


Desolate Seas

by Gorgel



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-15 20:16:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 89,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8071213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gorgel/pseuds/Gorgel
Summary: Of the many accounts of my life, none have been as grand as my voyage across the ocean. I was lost in what appeared to be the hub of the entire world. Then the sea had called for me, called for my soul. It was an offer I couldn't refuse, and in my young and foolish ways I had set my own trap.





	1. Fever

 

I watched behind me, the twisted sands moving further and further away.

I left my regrets on that island, along with the past as well.

I was at peace, I felt free again.

A voice seemed to call out to me from the thick fog.

“Do you regret any of this?”

 

**Desolate Seas**

**Chapter One**

**Fever**

I was born a Treeko in a small community to the northeast of Shaymin Village. I had spent nearly my entire life in that secluded area, where only rumors and half-truths flew in from beyond the mountains. Looking back, I wouldn’t say that it really was worthy enough to call a colony or a village. It was a congregation of a few dozen shacks, slowly populated over time by wandering souls with nowhere to turn to. It was a conglomeratic effort by Shaymin village and whatever traveled from the west, a plan to create a colony on the eastern shoreline. The village was 5 years into development when I was born. There was no more than one or two wooden or brick buildings at the time, the rest was made of twigs and mud.

My family had moved there right before my birth, the forests to the north had become too harsh and rumors spread of a new city opening up in the bay area to the southeast. This was the fate of many who moved there. It was like the old days before Treasure Town existed. Pokemon would set up camp near mystery dungeons or forests, in groups of no more than one or two families. I had seen firsthand what happens next. You either had a mother or father who would go out looking for monthly supplies, and if they never came back you had yourself. You were absolutely secluded from the outside world. A traveler showing up would be treated like a king or a knight, sent to guard the place from evil. But almost no one stayed for more than three days. If your little group was lucky it could manage with a couple guards posted outside at night, if not, you were doomed to a raid by deranged pokemon or bandits.

My family had to work hard in order to gain housing in the colony, they helped build the shacks and the walls. We eventually built our own little house, out of leaves and mud. My mother worked tirelessly in the armory, sewing and fixing armor for the guards posted at the walls. It was a hardship no doubt, but it was one that would pass as time progressed.

The two houses that were originally built were used as the town hall and the armory. The town hall was occupied by a local guild team. They had been sent by Wigglytuff’s Guild to help the village until it could sustain itself. The team consisted of a Charmeleon, Sudowudo, and Raichu, and for the most part their job consisted of mapping the surrounding area and destroying local bandit nests. The village almost never got supplies from Shaymin, as bandits dug into caves dug around the dirt path leading up the mountain. When I turned fifteen I offered myself to work with the Guild team, along with several others who were enticed with the Guild’s work.

The team split themselves up into 3 groups, which cycled their jobs at the end of a shift. Group A would patrol the mountains for a month or until they ran out of supplies, searching for bandit hideouts and destroying them. Group B took up cartography, mapping out important resources in the colony’s vicinity. Group C would fend off wild pokemon and bandits near the village, pushing them back into the mystery dungeons to the west. I worked there for three years, getting a taste of all three jobs. To be honest the guild never showed up to help permanently, they only stayed to teach the colony how to survive out here, and the three jobs were one way of doing so. Over those three years the colony expanded and grew, finally becoming self-sustaining and no longer in need of supplies from Shaymin Village. It had finally become a full-fledged town, complete with a set of docks for even faster routes back to Treasure Town. It joined the alliance between the two villages, and named ourselves after the pokemon who helped us, Guild’s Bay.

No more than a few months after the official ceremony, I had evolved into a Grovyle. Unfit with my title, I named myself Sid, and saved up money for a trip out west. I knew what my heart desired, I wanted to see distant lands and forbidden seas, and my only opportunity was through Wigglytuff’s Guild. I had toiled for three long years under the help of the guild members, and when leaving they told me they would recommend my membership to the guild. Finally, I had received a letter stating that I was to meet the Guildmaster in person. Grabbing my belongings, and saying goodbye to my family, I took off through the mountain ranges. I landed no sooner than five days in Shaymin Village. Having never seen the place, I was greeted by the team I had worked with before, showing me around their home. It was a quiet place, almost secluded if not for the constant barrage of tourists. After staying for a week I continued westward.

It took two weeks to finally reach the fabled town, it was massive in size, and the stories from the time disaster gave it no credit compared to the mere size of it now. Farms had spread out for miles out east, and townsfolk and villagers had built stone communities on the outskirts of the bumbling city. Walking even further west revealed massive two story buildings made of brick, at least a million pokemon walked on the streets every day. I slept on the rooftops of one that night, looking down I saw a multitude of pokemon walking to and fro, and it never stopped no matter what hour of the night you looked. I finally fell asleep at midnight, the pitter patters below me drowning out the night like white noise. I dreamt of what was to come, what majesties I might encounter on my journeys in the guild. The thoughts of my little secluded village faded away, and my mind focused on nothing but the future.

I found myself in quite a unique circumstance as I woke up the next morning, the sky had already become a very bright blue, and the streets had become infested with people. Packing what I had taken out, I made my way from rooftop to rooftop. I had no fear as I did so, nor did I get queasy when looking down. The work I had done in the past gave me experience for this sort of thing, especially high up in the mountains. You see, when there is a certain level of conscious thought that you could die with one small slip, eventually that thought slips you, no pun intended. Almost like becoming insensitive towards violence, you gain a sort of normality when doing something very deadly. The same logic applied on the rooftops, sure I had every opportunity to pause and think for a moment just how I might fall and break a limb or lose my life, but the thought had never occurred simply because of how often I had done this.

 

I had not known just how busy the town was at this time of year, spring had just started, and it was the perfect weather for trade between the distant continents. Even in a small village like mine the idea that safe trade routes had opened up baffled me, at the time I would have never comprehended the vast distance between the two landmasses. Focusing on what was ahead of me, the rooftops had become quite a peril, but not impossible to pass just yet. Eventually the gaps had become so wide that jumping across simply wouldn't do. I casted a vine across to the adjacent rooftop, it protruded from my plant-like body like a web of sorts. I jerked the rope at just the right moment to make it curl around a chimney, I secured it tightly to another on my side. It was a skill I had learned from Sudowudo while I had worked at the village. Nevertheless it had gotten me out of certain pickles before, and I wasn't about to deal with the crowd below. Besides, it could help anyone who might have the same idea I had, and it made for a pleasant decoration.

 

Finishing the elevated trek, I reached the final rooftop with the ocean ahead. I looked at the sea ahead as at least a dozen ships came and went. It was a beauty I hadn't had the privilege to see yet. My father had longed to see this side of the sea.

 

 I couldn't waste any time though, my meeting with the Guildmaster would commence in less than four hours, and I was at least two hours away by rooftop. I couldn't rely on that anymore anyways, just a couple blocks to my left I could see the buildings discontinue in return for a long narrow road leading downtown. Whether I could make it in time or not had become my priority.

 

Downtown wasn’t what I had expected. Surprisingly it was barren compared to what I had thought before. In truth most commerce had stayed within the northern region of town, you could get anything up there. This left the original spot quiet and secluded, a sort of paradise for weary travelers or guild members. I watched the pokemon around me as I strolled by, every once in a while catching a glimpse of a pink scarf, a sign of the guild itself.

 

I had reached the beginning of what seemed to be an almost infinite tower of stairs. The mere thought that I was just a few flights away from such an extraordinary place. My body quivered with each step I took, as if I were climbing to meet gods. As I reached the top my mind became a blur, my vision zoned out, and my head was in a trance like no other. To call this nervousness was no small feat, to call it a sign of insanity seems safe now.

 

“Halt! State your name!”

Those were the first words I had truly heard in a long time, my journey from the mountains to this point had been nothing but silence and contemplation. My mind sputtered like an old machine for a second. “S-s-sid, I’m a…a grovyle.” The mind plays games when it’s twisted up, like that voice you make at an interview. That high pitched nervous wreck of a screech considered language, and your head is none the wiser, thinking its professional of some sorts.

 

“Proceed.”

 

The voice echoed from a long shaft below me, sound waves billowing up from the ground itself. I proceeded into a tent made of hide, the image of a Wigglytuff painted over it. Inside was a ladder, leading down into the caverns below. Next to it sat a spiraling staircase, most likely made for the more four-legged of folks. Somehow the ground below me had muffled the noise from within. As I climbed down into the cellar I heard a large crowd, the noise echoed in the cave like a gunshot. I turned around to what I had feared, a grouping of at least thirty pokemon, all crowded around billboards pinned with crucial information. An assortment of wooden chairs and tables had been set to accommodate the crowd, who would eventually get tired of rabble.

 

“Excuse me,” I asked, that annoying high pitched voice along with it. “I was wondering if I’m on the right floor, I’m supposed to meet with the guild owner.”

“One floor down,” he replied, just barely audible over the crowd.

I thanked him as I climbed down yet again.

 

“I’m sorry…” Those words rang in my ears like a bell, that soothing and calm voice becoming annoying in an instant. What had happened in the past two minutes before faded away from my thoughts, to this day I can’t remember that short span of time.

“I’m sorry,” the voice started up again. “I truly, truly am…sorry.”

I looked at the guildmaster, a Wigglytuff, sitting in front of me on a mat. I didn’t utter a word, my expression was asking the questions.

“We’re over packed as it is, and we can’t even afford to dig out any more rooms, the place would collapse.” He sighed, turning around to get something from that massive treasure box of his. “Look, Sid, I’ve already known about you for a while, believe me. Your group mailed back several times. Here, see?”

I looked them over, sure enough they had written home about me, praising my work with flying colors. Handing these letters to me was a desperate plea for forgiveness. My heartstrings played along to his tune, he could have just kicked me out a long time ago but the conversation continued. He seemed awfully generous for what was playing out.

“We can’t have group meals anymore as well, the guild is too small for that now. Eh…once and again we’ll share a meal on an occasion of sorts. But I usually send them out to get something in town.”

I was silent still, finally uttering a final question. “B-but where do I go? I mean, I spent a fortune of time and money getting here, I…“ I hung my head down, shuttering as I cursed under my breath.

“Treasure Town is a big place now,” he said in a soothing tone. He reached into the box yet again. “I know you can make it here, if you survived the mountains with your friends, well…” He handed me fifty poke in gold. “We’re building a new housing area to the east of here, down the road. In half a year or so come back, please! I promise I will make it up to you.” He gave me the gold as a gift, and in my current situation it was an offer I couldn’t pass.

I strolled out of the building with my pride shackled and chained. I remained homeless for the next two months. The problem with homelessness is that it goes in a cycle. You can’t get a job cause your filthy, you can’t get a bath cause you have no money, you have no money cause you have no job. The fifty had only accommodated for about a week’s worth of food. I had come to the town in the worst season for work, and this was my punishment. I settled with groups of other bums. In a town like that I learned that you couldn’t be on your own for a while. I taught them the same tricks I used before, using the rooftops and all that. We made easy pickings for a while, I didn’t mind not having a roof over my head, it didn’t even rain either.

Eventually the cycle ended when a bar had opened a new location, right next to its old one. Going back to those stairs by the guild, there was an underground bazar right behind it that I didn’t even know about. Running short on space, they dug up another hole on the opposite side of the street, right under a bell that hadn’t been rang in a long time. For what purposes you would go and open a new shop right next to the first, I don’t know, but it got nice business somehow. Maybe from the patrons who couldn’t get in the first one? Eventually they ran short on staff, and put out a help wanted add. I answered the call, and alongside me was a Mr. Mime, and a Braixen.

“Shit,” I muttered to myself. I had burned myself with a pot of boiling water.

“Sid, you just about done with table two’s drink?” I looked up to see the Braixen, speaking to me patiently. She was a petite thing, full of spunk and charm, outside of work I knew nothing about her. Her name was Brisa, and I couldn’t lie to myself that she wasn’t cute.

“Yea, just let me finish this damn thing.”

She could sense the anger in my voice, maybe another one of her psychic things.

“Where’d you get that?” she asked, noticing my burn. For a while I had never felt genuine care on the streets, I only stuck around other bums just to feel protected. Hearing her made me loosen up a bit, something to look forward to at work I suppose.

“Mime!” she called, “Finish Sid’s post for me will ya?” She dragged me into the back room, looking around for a first aid kit that was always lost. “What did you do today Sid?”

“It’s nothing…really,” I said nervously.

“C’mon, spill the beans!”

I sighed, “I, I stuck my hand in boiling water.” She snickered under her breath. “Why the hell do you have to laugh at me all the time?” “Because,” she replied caringly, “You do it almost every day.”

She rapped my hand in a thick mess of gauze. “Your head is always somewhere in dreamland, probably thinking of me.”

To be honest I never really did, most of the time I was thinking about which rooftop I was going to spend the night on. The townsfolk were figuring out that those large bumps in the night weren’t birds. But even so, my face burst out with a heavy blush, perhaps every once in a while I did think of her.

“You know it’s been thirty days since we took this job,” I said quietly.

“Yea?”

I paused for a moment, “I’m still shit at it.”

“Nah, you just think too much.”

“Really now, is that your psychic intuition again?”

She laughed to herself, “Smartass.”

Before exiting the room, she stopped me. “Sid, I was wondering if you wanted to join me somewhere tonight, after work. It’s a place I really enjoy.”

It was better than heading straight to a rooftop.

“Sure, where to?”

“Hey now, that would ruin the surprise!” She smiled lovingly to me as she stepped through the door.

 I finished the mime’s shift for him to thank him, which lasted fifteen minutes after mine. Sure enough, she was waiting for me outside, sitting on a tree stump admiring the view.

She turn to me, “C’mon we’re gonna miss it if we don’t hurry!”

We walked down a dirt path, which twisted through a patch of trees. It stopped right in front of a beach, a small remnant of the old town, with the entrance to a cave to the east.

“I like to come here at sunset,” she said. “It relieves my mind after work.” We walked a ways to a tree stump that stuck out of the sand like a sore thumb. “Just the waves and the view, its nice. Kinda takes over you, doesn’t it?”

“Yea…” was all I could mutter. The view did relax you. The cold waves breached the shoreline in such a gentle manner, and every once in a while a ship could be seen sinking into the horizon, as if falling off the edge of a flat world.

Minutes passed, minutes that seemed like hours. It was just the two of us, staring at an immense sky streaked with gold and orange.

“Sid, why are you here…in town, I mean?”

“I tried joining the guild, they wanted me here, and I guess I answered too late.”

“Darn, you too?” I looked at her in a puzzling sort of way. Her expression still stuck in short amusement. “I tried joining about half a year ago, when they were accepting applications. They dug out a new floor or something, at least a million signed up for it. Only a handful made it in.” She pondered at the sea for a moment, that look someone gives when staring directly at the past. She finally shrunk away, turning to me. “Why did they want you?”

“I worked for a team back in my town, at least three years’ worth too. Wrote directly to the guildmaster about me.” I stared directly at my past as she did, “I got a letter five months after they left, they held a spot for me or something. I guess I got the letter too late huh?” “Funny,” I started up again. “It would’ve been easy to add me to the team in Shaymin Village or something, but for some reason they wanted me here.”

We sat a few more minutes, the sun was about halfway down.

“How long have you been in town?” I asked.

“A year, you?”

“Three months.”

“Where did you come from?” she asked.

“Guild’s Bay, and you?”

“Shaymin.”

“I stayed a week there.” I replied.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

She chuckled pitifully for a moment. “The only reason I came down here in the first place was to join the guild, always a dream of mine or something. That wasn’t the first time I applied, more like the fifth.”

Another moment passed. “I guess we both have been crushed before.” She said.

The sun had sank into the sea, the sky began to darken as the stars started to show their light.

“Well,” Brisa said, standing up and stretching. “It’s been a nice talk with you.”

“Yea, it has.”

She smiled one last time to me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay…”

I watched her leave. I stayed for a bit longer, making sure I wouldn’t bump into her in town.

I didn’t want her to see me on the rooftops.


	2. The Escapee

My eyes caught wind of a ship on the horizon.

It had three masts, three crosses defined on the blue backdrop.

They had come to torment me.

**Chapter Two**

It had been five months since I took the job. Summer was only a few hours away, the sun still hanging halfway down at midnight. It was summer solstice, the wind had died to a warm ocean breeze. You could still smell the sea salt from a mile away.

The rains of late spring had already come and gone, I still wondered to that day how I avoided getting sick. Some other rooftop dwellers and I had spent those rainy nights huddled in an alleyway. Moneywise, I had earned my lucky streak. A five poke raise had enticed me to save up, and within a month I was a mere paycheck away from renting a small room on the east side of town. Once that was over, I could finally relax. I wouldn’t have to worry about keeping everything I did a secret.

The only reason I had the job in the first place was that I lied. I told my boss I lived on the other side of town. I said I didn’t mind the commute, and that the walk every morning was refreshing. He took the bait better than a fish ever could, and sooner than later I had ended up in a small bazaar next to an older one.

The clock had struck midnight. We’d be having patrons all night for the event, it was the first big summer solstice in over nine years. Mr. Mime let us go after the clock stopped chiming, replacing us with some more of his mime friends. It was a nice gesture, but I knew what he was after. He was gunning for manager, and although I didn’t mind Brisa was going to fight him to the death over it.

Over the past two weeks Brisa had described to me what her new goals were with the job, it was one of the first she loved in a long time. It certainly showed with the look on her face most of the day. She wanted to do many things with her life, join the guild, explore, or do something to be remembered by. But right at that moment in history, she wanted to be manager. So night after night, she described her plan for me and her to sabotage the mime’s chances at getting it. I never went along with her grand heist, but it was cute to watch her get so excited over it.

That night she never mentioned it as we strolled down the dirt path. She was apathetically quiet the whole time. As we reached the beach, she looked up at the sun.

“Man, would you look at that view.” It was distant and tiny. The light refracted through the sky, making it appear bright red and orange. I couldn’t help but agree with her. She walked closer to the shoreline, with me catching up a bit slowly. There was something about that night, something haunting. It was just all too surreal for me.

We stood there for a few minutes, letting the cold water splash against our feet. We had come to this beach day after day, night after night. This was the result of our diligence, the most beautiful sunset of the year.

“My mother died a few days ago,” she said. There was no emotion in her voice. She looked down before continuing. “You know, she laughed when I said I was going to move to this town. Useless she said…useless.”

She shuttered for a moment. “It’s not the fact that I don’t miss her or anything, I just feel so bad that I have nothing to say for it. I just feel…nothing towards her.”

“Do you think I wasted my time coming here?” I stayed silent, it wasn’t something I could answer for her. She looked down at the waves again.

“It’s something you’re gonna have to find out yourself,” I finally replied. “You have to look at what you’ve done these past few years, and see if you find any value in it.”

She looked at me for a moment, smiling in that caring sort of way she always did with me. She hummed a sailor’s tune to herself before replying, “Yes, I do.”

Wingulls passed by, propelled by the wind beneath their feathers. A few of them carried sacks around their necks, most likely full of mail.

“Where do you think they are going?” Brisa asked.

“Guild’s Bay,” I replied. She looked at me in a puzzling manner. I pointed at them, and drew an outline of their journey with my finger. “They fly on the coastline, looping around and then north, before hitting the towns up there.”

She seemed amused by my presentation. She looked back at me and asked, “What ever happened to your father?”

Her question took me aback as she stared at me with those curious eyes. “What?”

“Your father, you told me once when you were tired about your father.” She was certainly patient about the subject, there was no dodging out of this one.

“I’d rather not…talk about it right now.” I hesitated, hoping it wouldn’t let her down.

She looked at me with her head sideways before responding with, “Okay.” I was surprised at how easy that was, she usually pestered me until I broke. Who knows what she would have done if you told her ‘never mind.’

She seemed to have something else on her mind, “You want to get something to eat? We could eat it here, or on the docks if you’d like.” I eerily shook my head in contempt, my mind getting the best of me.

“I, I’m tired okay…I’m just gonna go g-get some sleep.” I hastily made my way back to the path, almost tripping in the sand.

“You okay Sid?”

“Y-yea, I’m fine Brisa. Goodnight.”

I walked a few feet away, stopping as she breathed once more.

“Sid?”

“Yea?” I replied. I saw her eyes become swallowed up in sadness.

“I’m afraid I’m quite lonely today Sid, you wouldn’t mind if you…” she smiled shyly. “If you stayed with me tonight?” She shined with love and hope. I couldn’t refuse her, not in my state, and not the state she was in.

I mercilessly agreed, her eyes sparkling with the love she had tried to convey so badly to me. We walked into town, all the while she held my hand in a most splendid way. We stopped a short ways to her home, letting me gather my things I left carelessly on the rooftop above. She said nothing about it, it was as if she knew all along about my predicament. She never judged, nor did she riddle me about it.

She had such a lovely place, the walls coated in a luscious brown paint. Her bed was folded with a green comforter, and a couch lied well within reach of it. The couch was red with golden strings intertwined around it. She was in the shower, I waited for my turn.

As I entered the bathroom after her and turned on the shower, I contemplated over my thoughts. The icy water rushed through me like a hail of knives. It cut at me, making me think long and hard over where I was going.

I came out of the bathroom, dried but far from relaxed. She gave me her comforter, letting it rest on the couch. That long summer day had finally come to a close, and we rested ourselves on opposite sides of the room.

“Sid?” she asked. I replied with a loving grunt. “Goodnight…” she said once more, finally drifting to sleep as I did the same. The thoughts of abandonment crept over me once more, as I drifted into a nightmare like no other.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was at the docks, the cool wind from the east blew inland in a most peaceful way. The sounds of Pelippers rang through the evening sky as I sat alone. In my hands rested a bag, I opened it to see a sandwich made of leaves and fruit, along with two ripe Oran berries picked earlier that day.

“Mind if I join you?” a voice said. I turned my head to meet the stranger. It was my father.

“Sure, sit down.”

We ate our meals as the sun grew smaller and smaller, the winder dying down as the tide came to a halt. Every once in a while I could feel a slight chill as the cold sea splashed against my feet. I looked up to my father, a strong, proud Grovyle. He was full of wisdom for a man of his age.

“Son, do you remember those pokemon we met a few days ago. They didn’t call each other Vespiquen or Vileplume, but rather Marie and Tox?”

“Yea!” I exclaimed cheerfully.

“Well I remembered you wanted to know why.” He sat up to stretch, exhaling a loud yawn. “I talked to someone I work with about it, another pokemon with a name.”

“And?!?” I said anxiously, curiosity bubbling from my soul.

My dad laughed, “Well he wasn’t born with it, that’s for sure. He just gave it to himself one day.”

“Oh,” I replied disheartened. “I was expecting a story or something.”

He smiled to himself, “Yea well, I don’t suppose it’s that exciting is it?” He looked me in the eyes, “Treeko, if you were to name yourself someday what would it be?”

I pondered over the question the way a child’s mind would. “Sid,” I finally said.

“Hmm, Sid…” He watched the waves for a moment. “I’d call myself John.”

“John, what’s that?”

“It’s an old human name, don’t remember where I learned it from. But it rolls off the tongue nicely, don’t you think?”

I giggled at my father, “It sure is John!”

He grabbed me by the shoulders, hoisting me up. “No matter what happens, do what you think is best, and only time will show you if it was worthwhile.”

He gave me the biggest smile in the world before putting me down and walking back down the peer. “I’m gonna go check on your mom, you gonna play with your friends in a bit?” I nodded in response. “Alright, I’ll see you later Sid!”

“Bye, John!” I said jokingly.

I watched as he faded from my vision, the world around me slowly turning to a darkness that surrounded my very soul. Within a moment my mind rested on one final image. I saw my father, lying there on the ground. An insect’s blade had cut right through his chest, it was twisted clockwise into his lung. The pain and fear still rested on his face.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within a moment I was awake once more. Tears were streaming from my eyes. I felt something tug at my neck as I shuttered. It was Brisa, she had wrapped her arms around me for comfort. She had fallen asleep on her knees, a most agonizing position. It had been an eternity since we last saw each other in consciousness, the clock on the wall was stationed at three in the morning.

I hoisted her up onto the couch, waking her in the process. I did so gently as she repositioned herself atop me, her head resting peacefully on my neck. I watched the ceiling, hearing her breathing crawl to a slow methodical process. I slowly did the same as well.

 

We woke up at the same time the next morning, her eyes already awake and watching mine. We said nothing as the rays of morning light entered the room. The only sounds were the ticking on the clock, and our breathing. I continued to watch the ceiling, too fearful to look at her.

“Sid, what’s wrong?”

I did not answer her for a few minutes. “I’m afraid,” I finally spoke. I noticed her looking at me from the bottom of my eyes. I shut them tight in contempt or shame.

“It’s okay,” she replied. “I’ll always be here for you.”

She held my head in her gentle hands, “I love you.” She kissed my lips, holding hers on mine for moment, before falling back down below my neck.

My heart turned astray from fear or regret. One might assume me to be a madman, taking advantage of this girl for pleasure in her most weakest of states. You would be a monstrous fool to think that way. This was pure and unadulterated love, I realized that sitting there. She took no physical pleasure from this. We were both broken from a past of turmoil and struggle, thoughts that no soul should be reminded of.

She loved me simply from the purest reaches of her heart, she clung to me as an equal. A person who could finally fill the void left in her heart. This was why I was so distraught, I hesitated to feel the same way about her, and I felt like a monster because of it.

I was afraid I would lose her like my father.

The next few months had been a blur of fate and deep thought. That very same morning we walked downstairs to a little café below her home. We sat there every morning, the very same way we did on the beach. All the while I sat there, listening to her and her stories while my mind was somewhere else. I thought I knew what I had to do. I was in fear, and I was weary of where I was heading.

Brisa was doing excellent though. Her hard work had paid off, and she had beaten the mime for the position of manager. Her life seemed to brighten up, as mine stayed still in constant fear.

On one of those hot days in the middle of summer, a group of travelers stopped by our little bazaar. One of the pokemon in the group was an old friend of mine from my old days being homeless. He was a short fellow, a Scrafty to be precise.

“Sid, Sid is that you?” He looked at me with a grin smeared across his face. “It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

“Yea it has! What are you doing here?”

“I remembered you worked here, recommended the guys to come try this place out.”

I stared at him in amazement. “Last time I saw you, you were on the street like me. Then the next day you just disappeared, what happened?”

“Oh, you won’t believe this. I found a job on a ship, I just got back from my first trip when we stopped here.”

“Ah ship huh?” That stirred something in me, that old feeling of longing for the sea when I was a kid, that longing to escape that I felt when I first arrived in this city. “How dangerous is that?”

“Hah, barely!” he replied. “You know a lot of people spread bullshit about pirates, but I haven’t seen a single one.”

“Really?”

“Yea! Like I said, I just got back from the Sky Continent. Beautiful place, this place pales in comparison to over there.” He sounded rambunctious, almost cocky.

“Say...” he continued. “A couple openings have sprung up, you want in?”

Something told me not to follow suit, but I did anyway. “What’cha offering?”

“We got a shitload of tobacco down below,” he leaned in closely asking for my ear. “But underneath that we have millions in gold.” He looked at me in that proud manner you would see from a gambler’s lucky streak. “I’ll split my check with you, twenty-five thousand poke.”

I dropped the glass in my hand as laughter spewed from his mouth. “Shit man, you’ve never seen that much in your life have you?”

“No, I haven’t.”

As I swept the broken glass into a dustpan he asked me once more. “Well, you in?”

“Can you give me a couple days to think about it?”

“To think about it?” he laughed. “Sure, I’ll be at the harbor for a while. You’ll spot me.”

He got up and started walking out of the place. “See ya sid!” he called to me.

“You know him?” Brisa asked as she helped me with the glass, watching him leave with a few of his friends.

“Yea, kinda…”

This was the start down my path of villainy. I could have called to her for help, in some form or another she could have helped me, but I didn’t. I stayed very far away, even when I was at my closest to her. This would be the most selfish acts one could ever create. On a peaceful night like any other, I had sent myself down the path of death. I awoke the next morning, with no contempt, regret, or compassion.

“I have to admit something to you,” I told her. I embraced the devil on my shoulder as she leaned forward in concern. “While I was still living on the rooftops, I lost the money I was saving up.”

“How much?”

“Enough to rent a place like this for a few months,” I replied. My heart burned for her no more. I looked at her and felt nothing but fear. “I fear if anything were to happen to your job, or mine, we might be in trouble.”

“So what’s gonna happen?” she asked, I could see the worry clump up in her throat.

“An old friend of mine showed up the other day, you remember him right? He offered me a job on a ship heading to the Air Continent. He offered me half of his pay, twenty-five thousand poke.”

“How long will you be gone?” She thought nothing of the money.

“Five months, six maybe.” I could see tears well up behind her smile. “I’ll be back sooner than you think.”

She looked at me with those compassionate eyes. “Do what you must,” she said. Her face turning away from me, towards regret.

A few days later, the ship was fully loaded and docked in the harbor. I woke up, she was still asleep next to me. I wouldn’t dare wake her up, I didn’t need more regret than I already had. I left the small room, closing the door carefully behind me. I walked down that narrow hallway with tears forming in my eyes. They followed me all the way down to the harbor. The sun had finally started to awaken, casting the first light of day into the world below.

The ship took flight, and we headed off out to sea. As we left the harbor, I heard a voice in the distance. I ran to the back of the ship and saw her standing there on the railway. She was waving goodbye to me, and I gave in to wave back. Somewhere in my mind I wondered if she knew what I was doing, perhaps she would forgive me someday. Perhaps she already had.

On that fateful, peaceful night I had changed my mind. I threw away the money I had been saving up. Two thousand poke fell into a gutter on the street.

I never intended to tell her the truth.

I never said that I loved her back.

I never planned to return to that city again.


	3. From death to renewal

I couldn’t keep my eyes off that horizon.

I waited patiently for the moment when the land would fall below the sea.

Only then would I be forgiven.

**Chapter Three**

**From death to renewal**

 “You want to come down?” The Scraggy asked. I was still leaning on the railing, watching the distant land on the horizon. I took one last look.

“Alright…”

The ship was no more than a hundred feet long from one end to the other. A small merchant ship she was, without a name and loyal crew. Of us there were only fifteen sailors, none of them seemed to have a sense of loyalty or trustworthiness. This was merely a job to them, but yet it’s not my place to judge them on that, I was there for the same reasons.

I followed him down into the hold of the ship. A small latch in the middle of the ship lead down into it. The Scraggy tightly gripped the latch. “Open Sesame!” he said as it flew open. He was a boastful fellow, full of jokes and cockiness. He had been like this ever since I met him. He was full of spunk, that much I cared to know. So much so that I called him that sometimes out of spite, although he protested there wasn’t much he could do to stop me. I was twice his size.

We climbed down into the room where we would be spending six months together. A tiny compartment assorted with all the knickknacks that came with sailing. Fishing poles, personal items, and whiskey lined the rows of shelves, and there was a table with a musket hanging above it. In the rightmost corner were two hammocks nailed to the wall. They were nailed in a corner that seemed to be cut out for them. The wall caved in a bit to accommodate their uniqueness.

“C’mere,” he said. “I want to show you something.”

I followed him through that old door into a large room full of crates. All of them were branded in large letters with the word ‘tobacco’. He led me through a few rows of the stuff before stopping at a certain one. He motioned me to help him lift the crates. One by one we moved them aside to reveal yet another one below the hold, dug into the very floorboards of the ship. With all the strength in his body, he lifted the cover that sealed what had been left inside. Gold, practically a mountain of gold. Individual bars were stacked on top of each other, almost seeming to overflow in the wooden box they were contained in. I was staring at more money than I would ever own in my entire life. Soon after I caught on to what my friend was thinking. It wasn’t just this one box, why else would he be paid such a handsome check for a simple job like this. Every one of these stacks of tobacco ridden crates had a box of gold hidden beneath it. There was money worth billions below my feet, this small ship held a fortune that could be used for anything. This money would fund armies, new villages, maybe even countries. Such a thing had hardly existed in this world, yet old human tales from beyond this dimension proved there was a much more complicated system of life than mere villages interacting with one another.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” the scraggy asked me.

“Yes it is.” I replied, still awestruck. My mind wandered to doubts though, and soon enough they inhabited my speech as well.

“Scraggy,” I continued. “What about pirates, with all this there’s no wonder that we won’t be attacked.”

He laughed. “They’ll never come after us, we’re too disguised!” I was puzzled by his answer. “Think of it like this Sid. Every other ship that carries gold is huge and has a ton of firepower. No one is going to think of an old broken down ship like this carrying anything worthwhile at all.”

“Besides,” he continued as we walked back to our quarters. “Our route won’t even take us near the usual pirating areas.” He walked over to the desk, taking out a map from one of the drawers and flattening it on the table. It showed the current map of the world, or what it was thought to be anyway. “We’re out here, Grass Continent, off of Treasure Town. Now normally we would cut through this area between this island and the Continent itself. Now for the past few months a few ships have been completely ransacked around there. Not only that, but the area between the Air Continent and the Grass one has been shut off completely!”

“Who could ever do a thing like that?”

“No one quite knows for certain, but one of the reasons has been the Coalburner Kingdom. Now look here, see this peninsula off of the air continent. Looks like it’s held on by strings right? Around that stringy area, all the way down to the tip, a few unknown villages just sprung up and called themselves a country!”

“When did that happen?” I asked.

“Over two years ago, or at least, people who are lucky to visit say it’s been around that long. They’ve closed off their borders from the outside. Something with massive amounts of bandits, they only trust certain diplomates and the occasional contractor.”

“So pirates suddenly swarm this ‘country’ after two years just cause they’ve become isolationists?”

“Well, no. The ‘Burner ships still trade with us, but they have no protection out in the water. These pirates are practically barricading them into that little corner without having to even be there.”

What a funny idea that was. A kingdom of isolation, with as much mystery as a dungeon. No outside contact, no local squabbling like you would see between towns like Treasure and Capim. It was merely a few villages that sprung from the wilderness, and in their hastily creation they sought each other for help, eventually forming that everlasting bond which royal marriage foresaw. But none of this mattered, eventually with the boredom all of these thoughts would fade from me.

“Now here,” he continued, poking the map with a knife. “We are right here, off the coast. We’re going to continue west, out to this big area of sea. Then we chart north, and from there cut through the Water Continent and into Baram Town.” It was certainly a well thought plan, but it made a three week journey into a three month haul into the middle of nowhere.

I spent almost my entire sea life there with the Scraggy. I was hardly permitted on deck, learning in time that we were treated like enemies. Hazing one would call it, we did what had come to be named ever so subtly ‘bullshit’. We moved boxes and sat around all day while the rest of the crew hauled ass as they steered the ship. Down there we permitted it for the most part, seeing as how we occupied most of the gunpowder and the supplies for the ship, they were forced to interact with us to get it. Sometimes the Scraggy would get in fights with whoever was sent for the supplies. He did so just for the hell of it.

One thing about my colleague was that he had a big mouth. He would brag and boast about every little achievement, every little victory he scored. I would sometimes think of the gold. If he was boastful enough to tell me back at land, who’s to say he didn’t do so with anyone else?

The long journey proved otherwise, we spent a month wandering in open waters. At this point, any bragging my friend could have done would be uneventful. There was not a single sign of bad weather or any other ships following our course. Of course with a long trek such as this, we found many days dreary and boring. I had never truly found out what true boredom was until I set sail on that ship, but the Scraggy and I would find ways to entertain ourselves.

We would talk for many hours about home and world events, or play checkers to which he would win most of the time. While we were open and talkative, the rest of the crew had a knack for keeping silent, especially around me. They had only warmed up to my friend for saving another crewmember’s life.

“It was dark and muggy,” he said, repeating the events of that fabled night. “It had to be three o’clock, maybe four. I climbed to the deck to get some fresh air as I saw someone from the crew getting up as well. He waved for a moment, first time I ever saw any of them do that to me. Anyways, he was on Crow’s Nest duty. As he was climbing the rope a knot loosened up. It broke under the pressure of his weight, and in a mere instant he was hanging on for his dear life. Within a moment I sprang over to him and caught him in time. If I hadn’t well…he would have fallen overboard and would end up dead.”

“Wouldn’t he just be able to climb back aboard, or even call for help? You were there, if he fell over you could have just yelled ‘man overboard!’”

“I don’t know myself, maybe he could have. But in that cold morning weather he would have frozen to death, maybe even drowned right then and there. I know people can get sucked under the ship and hit their head, knocking out and drownin’. It’s a death sentence, one way or another.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked him.

He leaned in real close, perhaps turning what he knew over in his mind. “They say you will never see paradise if your body’s adrift. Eternal damnation and the works. I don’t believe much in that but, gee, the way some people get the shivers about it. It ticks somethin’ off in you as well.”

He leaned back, scoffing for a moment. “That’s why if you have a grudge, you throw ‘em overboard. You would be their grim reaper, literally damning them for eternity.”

The days went on and on, each one longer than the last, each one buried under work and exhaustion. You could feel something beyond the mugginess, underneath the chaos your mind spewed at you out of boredom. It was the strange feeling of déjà vu, that somehow we were all repeating the actions of previous lives. Deep down we all knew what was coming next, these were implanted memories of our fate to come.

It was nine in the morning. The sun was already boiling us alive, and the muggy atmosphere was three times as thick. No swamp, no marsh or pit could compare to the dreadful heatwave that day. Scraggy and I had no will to go on. We lied in our hammocks, almost wishing for death as we bared heavy fevers. I thought about this small ship. She had no name, no origin, no manifested destiny. She was afloat for only one purpose, a profit. I turned a coin over in my fingers, wondering if this was the reason for the hostilities between the crew. The pursuit of money sent everyone into madness I suppose.

The ship’s carpenter had forced his way into our living quarters. He had to take apart a few boards to replace them with a suitable substitute. He was a Sudowudo, old in age and wise in craft. When he set his mind to something he did it, whether the act would kill him or not was never up for debate. At that moment in time he withstood the head. I assumed the rest of the crew thought him mad. They had all retired for the day, the heat had woven laziness and sleep into their thoughts. Yet here was the carpenter, probably older than everyone on the ship combined. He sat there as he took off a few planks from the wall. We all delighted in each other’s boredom.

“Sudo,” I asked him as I tumbled around in my hammock. I made sure the Scraggy could hear me. “Sudo, this guy’s been telling me all that bullshit about dying at sea.” Scraggy snickered as I talked, knowing full well that I was just teasing the old sod. “What do you think of it?”

“Well, first off I wouldn’t call it that. What you’re doing is bullshit enough.” He paused to stand up. “I’d take it to heart though…”

“Why?” I asked.

He looked through a tiny window, out into the sea below. “I don’t believe much in damnation, but the brain is connected to the body, no? I wouldn’t want to get sea sick when I’m dead.”

As he spoke those words fate reared its ugly head. A shot was heard from the deck, distant to a point, I assumed from the Crow’s Nest. I could feel the footsteps of the lazy crew waking to their posts.

A shout was heard from the Crow’s Nest, assuring my fears. The call was echoed by the crew, relaying throughout the whole ship. “Man O’ War! Man O’ War! Jolly Roger northwest!”

Almost instantaneously the crew snapped to attention. I could hear the yelling that emanated from the gun ports. The pokemon who served there, Powder Monkeys they were called. First time sailors made up the lot of them, if it wasn’t for my friend that was the position that awaited me. They could load and fire a cannon within ten seconds, and an entire fire line could be prepared in thirty. Yet they were treated like trash, and often didn’t survive longer than several years at sea. Our ship had no more than ten guns, to survive against a Man O’ War would be a task of defense and retreat.

I heard the voice call out once more.

“What’s he saying?” the Scraggy asked nervously.

The voice called out again, this time clearer and agitated. The carpenter listened as best as he could, but nothing could be made out over the rest of the crew yelling.

“C’mon, whats he saying!?!” I persisted.

His eyes widened, “The Man’s firing get low!”

Within a second we were all beneath something, but our helplessness wasn’t worth a damn. Within a moment I could hear the ship’s hull getting ripped apart. Time seemed to stop as a cannonball ripped through our room, breaking through the outer wall and the inner wall as if they were paper. It struck right into the storage, right into the gunpowder. Time really did stop, and I could not hear it but I felt laughing. It was the most devilish laugh you could think of.

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I didn’t fear the explosion, that bit of adrenaline had died off long before. I did, however, feel tremendous fear in those last few seconds of consciousness. Many pokemon before spoke of those moments right before death, you see your loved ones. Mother, father, wife, their faces shined at yours as you faced that abyss. I didn’t see my father, or my mother. In that final moment before my mind gave way, I saw her face. The face I had ran from to forget. In that persistent moment, I felt the fear I had many months ago. That fear the crawled up my spine as she said those three little words, that fear when a dozen people had told me that before her.

I woke up. It was probably the blood from my right ear that stirred me. As I arose, I snapped my fingers to my right side, it was distant. I knew right away, I had become half deaf. I stood to my feet and examined the room, the images still swirling in my head. There was no blood in the room other than mine, it sat in a small puddle beneath my feet. A five foot gap behind me exposed the outdoors. I traced where the projectile had come from, breaching through the wall straight into the gunpowder, leaving a ten foot hole in the wall to the east. Burnt wood and small patches of flame emanated from the opening.

I wondered for a moment where the other two had gone. For a second I almost believed they disintegrated right there from the blast. I would have almost laughed at the thought had it not been for the pain in my ear when I raised my voice. I disregarded it though, when I saw that the musket was missing from its hinge. On the desk below sat a fine amount of ashes. Looking through the scraps of paper that were left I knew they had burned the cargo documents. Even so, their effort couldn’t pay off. The hold was wrecked from the explosion, the gold bars were scattered across the entire floor like a bag of rice that had been cut open. Millions of dollars sat at my feet, some still as hot as fire, some now with droplets of my blood.

I turned around swiftly, my left ear was still holding up. The hatch had been jerked open, light from the outside peered in. I approached the light cautiously, seeing the figure of a pokemon I couldn’t make out.

“Fuck me…” the figure mumbled. “Hey doc! Come look at this, someone survived that blast!”

Another figure approached, this time bigger. I assumed him to be ‘doc’ as he looked down at me. “Well, shit. Can’t just leave the poor bastard there, get him in chains or something.”

“I’m not touching that guy! With what he survived he’s fuckin’ lucky to be standing! Has to be holy or something.”

Yet another figure approached. “What’s up here?” The voice sounded feminine.

The first voice answered, “Some guy survived the explosion!”

“Well don’t just throw him in with the others! Let him be or something, check on him doc!”

“Skoro, you defending this piece of shit?” the first voice asked.

“Yes, he was probably down there the entire time. He’s done no harm, probably bled half to death from the looks of it!”

Heavy footsteps approached their position. “What the hell are you bastards on about?”

“Some guy survived-“

“I don’t give a shit just put him in chains.”

The voice faded as he walked away, with each step I could feel his weight shake the wooden foundation. The figures were quiet for a while, until the first voice spoke out. “I’m not going down there…”

“Well fucking one of us has to!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” the doctor jumped down into the hold. We met face to face, a Charmeleon, large for his kind. He was old, but he was not at his final stage of evolution, and age had taken a toll on his current form. A large cut rested on his snout, so big it looked as if his scruff was merely hanging by threads.

“Easy now,” he said as he put chains around my wrists. “If you survived that thing, nothing could harm you now.” He started to clean and dress my wound, wrapping a bandage around the area of my ear canal. “What’s your name boy?”

“Sid…”

“Sid huh? Well Sid, you are a fucking miracle. Not a scratch other than the ear, usually an arm or a leg missing.” He took a pair of surgery scissors and cut at something in my head. Handing it to me, I winced in some sort of shock or pain. It was the leaf on my scalp, almost like hair it would grow downwards. Here it was, chapped and burnt, a little bit of it was torn off at the end. I felt around for the remains, just a tiny stub at the back of my skull. He held the chain around my wrists, leading me patiently up to the surface.

As the sun burned my eyelids, I found the identities of the other figures. There was the Doc of course, then the first voice, a Timburr without a beam over his shoulder. Next was the female voice, which belonged to a Quilava. She carried no flame on her back, quite possibly barren of the ability to do so. Lastly, the heavy footsteps belonged to a Beartic, who was already on the other side of the deck.

“Doc, is it there?” The Timburr asked.

“Yup, more gold than you will ever own.”

A wicked smile grew across the Timburr’s face. He snickered in delight as both he and the girl jumped down into the hold, reaping their stolen reward. The doc ran off, running back across a large plank that connected the two ships. I had to look up to view that Man O’ War. Stroked with black paint and armed to the teeth, she stood still in the water almost like a goddess. She was perfect, the most beautiful ship I had ever seen. She was a beauty to all things naval.

I was alone on that tiny merchant ship, all I could do was look up at my captor. Even with the swirling motions of the pirates around me the world still felt empty. Something had been lost on my trip along with half of my hearing. I finally had to turn around, inspecting a curious voice coming from behind.

I saw the image of my species, a Sceptile he was. He towered over the merchant that captained this tiny vessel. He was across the deck, and even from this distance I could make out a pistol gripped tightly in his claws. He spoke a few words to the captain. As the merchant drew a breath to speak, he drew his last. Without haste the Sceptile lifted his arm, shooting the merchant through the chest. All eyes pointed to him for a second, then back to the duties that plagued everyone. The captain laid there, bleeding to death as he gasped for life.

I decided to follow the strange pokemon, he walked back and forth on the deck for a moment. He was contemplating something. He then turned around and headed to the Quarterdeck. Leaning over the side he lifted his claws to his mouth and blew a mighty whistle. Seconds passed, and before long I saw a bird quickly coming into view. A few more moments, and the bird had come to a full stop as it landed on the scaffolding.

The Sceptile spoke, “How far have you surveyed?”

“Two miles out, no ships in sight Captain. Is my job done?”

“Yes, but I’ll only pay you three shares for it. You could survey further but I doubt you’d be up for it.”

The bird thought over the offer, then nodded in agreement to the captain’s price.

“You!” He pointed at me, I guess he didn’t recognize that I wasn’t part of his crew. “I need you to fetch me three shares of gold.” Fearing the same fate as the merchant, I complied. Scurrying down the deck I came to a halt at the latch to the hold. The two were still carrying up the bars of gold, brick by brick. I took three before they could notice and hurried back to the captain.

He took the three bars out of my hands, looking me straight in the eyes. Then he turned to face the bird, putting the gold in a burlap sack around its neck. “Go on, shoo!” And with that, the bird was on its way.

For a second as he turned around, I thought he was going to speak to me. Instead, he turned to look at the deck. As I did the same, fear tore at me. I saw the dead bodies of the crew being tossed into the crew’s quarters, the merchant’s body wore the same fate.

The captain finally turned around to face me. “What do you want?” Before I could speak he corrected himself, “Borat!” The beartic that ordered chains around my hands turned around to face us. Even from that distance I could see his old wrinkles and scars. “Get this kid in with the others.”

Immediately my mind looked back to the bodies. “No, no-no!” I pleaded as the bear walked over. “Please, don’t do this! I can work for you…or something.”

The captain looked away as I begged, disinterested in my pleading for life. “What makes you so different than the rest, who said the same thing?”

My breath hesitated as my life seemed to pass me by. Unlike so many days before when I had the opportunity to run from opportunity, I had to face it there on the deck of a dying ship.

“I’ll work for free, for anything! Just don’t leave me on this ship, even if you spared me we would just die of starvation, or the ship would capsize with all her wounds.” I would have said anything to get aboard that ship, but everything I said was true. “I mean look, I did what you asked. Three gold bars, I gave them to you in less than a heartbeat!” The captain looked down at me. From one sailor’s eyes to another’s we stared.

“Work for free you say?”

“Yes. You spare my life and I’ll, I’ll owe you it. For a lifetime of servitude, a lifetime of loyalty and nothing more, just don’t leave me to die on this retched ship!”

The captain looked down at me, some sort of respect or compassion in his eyes. Perhaps it was the rare meeting of our species, or the elder looking down at his son. I will never know what he thought of me right there.

“What do you need Jonah?” The Beartic asked as he finally approached.

He grinned at the bear, “Borat I do believe we’ve found our first cabin boy.”

The bear looked down at me. Puzzled, he looked back to the captain. “Him?”

“Yes, what do you think?”

“I think he’ll make a fine one, if he can do the job.”

The captain looked back to me, “Can you mop?”

“Yes sir.” I replied.

“How long can you run?”

“For eternity.”

He smiled, “If we’re captured you’ll be tried with the rest of us. You’ll be hanged at a law abiding port.”

“I’m fine with that.”

The bear looked to the captain. “Jonah, I have to contest. You just met the boy and you’re letting him on board?”

“Yes…”

“But why?” The bear persisted.

“I haven’t the slightest clue right now.”

The captain broke what seemed to be a few seconds of silence. “Well don’t just stand there Borat! We don’t leave crew in shackles!”

“Y-yes sir,” said the startled bear.

“And lead him onboard, he starts now.”

“Right…”

The old bear led me up the plank that connected the two ships. We stepped onto a deck that was five times the size of the merchant ship. The Man o’ War stood valiantly in the water, and unlike its tiny adversary she hardly rocked in the water.

“What’s her name?” I asked the bear.

“The Crouse Explorer.”

The Crouse Explorer, a funny name at that. We walked down to the southern end of the ship. He lead me through a wooden door into a dark corridor lit by one candle. It was a T-shaped hallway, once you were through the door it split to opposite directions. We headed left, into the most beautiful room on the ship. A parlor stood there, black and white checkerboard tiles paved across the floor. Silky smooth oak created a counter, six rows of red barstools sat upright and gently pushed against it. Glasses paved the cabinets, and there was more liquor than twelve men could drink.

We didn’t stay in the parlor too long, rather, he send me through a door in the far left corner of the room. It was a supply closet, a lone broom and mop hanged in the corner.

“The captain may be in charge, but I’m second in command. If you don’t clean this entire ship by sundown, I’ll throw you off myself.”

The bear walked back to his post, and I started my new job instantaneously. That night I worked harder than I ever had in my life. I worked just as hard the next day, and the day after that. Slowly, after what felt like a millennium, I earned the crew’s trust. After a week I had parlor duty, a strange one of them showed me how to mix drinks. A week after that and I got cannon cleaning, scrubbing away the muck left over from hours of use.

I saw many a battle, many ships that fled or drowned. I watched the sky be torn asunder by flaming ash, never an explosion, just fire and hell from the ships ahead. I didn’t know why we stayed at sea for so long, with such a large amount of cargo. The gold from the merchant, we had all of it. It stayed in the hold for as long as we sailed. A month passed, a few more battles. Then another month, and a few more battles as well. We never sailed for port, we never needed to it seemed. It was so bizarre, I never understood why we would destroy the ships and get nothing in return.

One more month passed. The crew had now trusted me no less than an outsider. Like a slave, I was there on watchful eyes, one slip up or one escape attempt and your life was over. Besides, where could you escape to?

I was cleaning dishes in the parlor, I reckon the entire crew was there. It was the final week of spring, the last true image of things to come. In a single moment it went from foggy weather, to a midsummer’s day. The crew drank their lives away as the captain decreed it was finally that time of year. We would sail to port, on the day of the Summer Equinox. Something kept bugging the back of my mind. I felt as if I should have been mourning, as if this day was some special occasion. Once every few hours an image would appear, then another. I clouded them away with work, clouded them away with good thoughts. Yes, today was a pleasant day. I had been on this ship for almost a year, give or take a few weeks. I had come to terms with it.

 I never knew how rambunctious this crew could really be. Thirty men, all stuffed into a twelve by twelve saloon. Each sailor was as drunk as the last. One of them climbed up on the counter and lead the rest in song.

“Please!” he cried. “Please tell me, what is this sailboat’s name?”

“The sailboat Malarkey!” the crew hollered back, cheering and laughing.

Underneath all the singing and celebration, I saw the Timburr and Doc sitting to my left. I could hear smidges of their conversation.

“I’m sick of this, I’m fucking sick. He’s on his deathbed, and I’m stuck here. We’re not even going to mainland as it is, what’s the fucking point of asking for me if I can’t fucking be there in the first place?” The Timburr finally swung round to face me. “You listenin’ in fuckface?!”

“Listening to what?” I responded.

“That’s right, you think anything of me I’ll slit your throat.” He stormed off, slamming the door behind him.

“Don’t mind him,” said Doc. “He’s just a kid, younger than you.”

“No worries.” I pondered over the glass in my hands for a bit. “What’s with him Doc?”

“Huh?”

“I said what’s with him, he just sulks and gets angry.”

“Yea, he does it better than you.” He took a puff, then sighed as he motioned me closer. “He’s only sixteen, the poor guy. He only joined to spite his father, something about his future or some bullshit. Now the old man is dying, found out a year ago in port.”

Doc leaned back, putting out the cigar and examining it. “He’s a good kid, I know he loves his old man. Just doesn’t like him is all.”

His words seemed to mesmerize something in me. “What do you suppose he should do?” I asked compassionately.

“He just needs to surrender is all, he needs to see his dad one last time. If he doesn’t he’s going to regret it.”

I tried to move the conversation away from the subject. “Doc, when do you suppose this leaf is going to grow back?” I grasped the short end tightly, without it I was a mess of a pokemon.

“Oh, not gonna happen for a while. You’ll probably evolve before you even see it again.” He took a puff of his rolled tobacco, adding more smoke to the cloud that permeated near the ceiling.

“Doc, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yea?” he said. The chanting was getting louder.

“You’re a fine surgeon, best I’ve seen. You got a lot of these guys patched up in once piece.”

“What about it?” he yelled.

“Why is a class act surgeon like you on a pirate ship?”

He didn’t answer for a bit. So instead, I asked him, “Doc, what did you mean when you said I’m just like-“

 “Go check on the Captain’s cabin. He says it’s dirty.”

The singing and yelling picked up in volume.

“Why?” I asked back.

“Cause I’m not going to answer you when I have to scream at the top of my lungs!”

I didn’t persist, the old guy sulked in his char as he puffed away the last bits of his cigarette. Taking up the mop, I abandoned the deafening parlor.

I walked down that narrow hallway to the captain’s room. This would be my first time entering the quarters. The candle at the door had been blown out, and only a single light emanated from the room. I slowly crept my way inside, the door creaking as I closed it behind me.

“Captain?” I called out. “I was sent here, you said the room needed cleaning?”

He stared at the paper in his hand for a long while before answering. Slowly he lifted his head to me. “Just start with the bathroom.” He said in a hopeless mutter. I made no more noise as I walked to the small compartment. I noticed right away that other than the porcelain toilet everything was covered in thick layers of dust. He hardly used the place it seems. Outside of using the restroom and turning on the sink, this was an abandoned room.

For a while I wondered the ships true intentions, she did not appear to be made for combat. Yet throughout every inch of her cavernous hull she was mounted to the teeth with guns. I had seen many a naval ship, and yes, they had appeared rather luscious from the outside. Though any sailor would tell you it was simplistic down to the bone. Porcelain toilets, marble counters, an entire bar crafted so meticulously. In her first years of sailing she couldn’t have been designed for combat.

While I was thinking of this, I turned a nob on the sink. Empty. My eyes ran down the piping, down to a cylinder tube that would pump water up to the faucet. Even that proved my points, you would never see this on a true naval ship. Not a drop was left inside, I would have to go fetch some water and refill it.

I didn’t dare to leave that small room, my heart skipped a beat as I heard the doorknob creak outside. I heard the door creak the exact way it did as I entered. I leaned against that fragile bathroom door to listen in.

“Captain Jonah…” it was the bear.

“Borat.”

There was a pause in their conversation. “Should I check for anyone?” the bear asked.

“There’s no one here.”

The bear sighed. “Jonah, I have to protest. We cannot go back to that port!”

“And why not?”

“Don’t you remember, two years ago? It was you and I who schemed to take this ship, and along with a quarter of the crew we did! All of those men are either dead or retired but you and I are the now the only men who know the truth.”

“What truth?” the captain sighed.

“Coalburner. This ship is bloody Coalburner property. No more than a trading ship, no harm she’s ever done, and we took it. That’s the reason why they’re isolated, that’s the reason why we’re so fucked now!”

“What’s your point?”

“My point is, you’re making the stupidest decision I’ve ever seen in my life!”

“Which would be?”

“Don’t toy with me you son of a bitch!” he roared. If it were not for the celebration the entire ship would have heard him. “We stole that gold straight from that ship, easy pickings! And what now? You set up a meeting, that fucking bird of yours you paid better than the rest of the crew. You set up a meeting with who else, the Coalburners! We’re selling this gold right back to them in service!”

“That was the plan from the very beginning.”

“Yes, but you didn’t tell me anything about it you fucking wince! Now they might just recognize this ship, you haven’t done a fine job covering up our tracks. They might just recognize you and me, maybe even that bitch you let on board too!”

“What’s done is done, I can’t change it now. If we pass this up we’re losing something even greater than money.” The captain had stayed calm throughout this whole ordeal.

“And what’s that? Getting hung for piracy?”

“To have our names written down in history! For a thousand centuries, people will discuss this ship, discuss you and me. How we alone helped establish the first nation on the planet!” I heard him sink back down into his chair. “You will get your money, that you can be assured of. But I will get what I’ve always wanted.”

Borat shuttered, “You’ve gone mad I tell you. Well, I won’t stand for it. The next time we reach the Mist Continent, you can say goodbye to me.”

“What do you have to gain there?”

“I have a family! Don’t forget I’m two times as old as you! I have grandchildren, can’t an old man have some fucking grandchildren?”

The captain sighed. “Don’t worry about a thing Borat, we will all make it. I’ll make sure you get your money, your family’s money. You can leave whenever you like.”

There was a pause in their argument. “And what of the boy?” Borat questioned. “All he’s been doing is scrubbing the floors. I hardly suspect he has any loyalty from that. I respect your decision to bring him on board but we cannot risk any traitors, not now of all times.”

“I trust him.”

“Yes, but-“

“I said, I trust him.”

“Yea, just keep your eye on him.” Borat began to walk for the door.

“Borat,” the captain called. “Wait five minutes, then get ‘her’ to come in here.”

“Jonah…”

“Yes?”

He shuttered for a moment before asking, “Why did we take this vessel in the first place?”

The captain didn’t answer, and the bear left unfulfilled.

I waited with the captain for five minutes, still leaning against the door. I thought about it all, this ship, the Timburr, Doc, my own life. I just stared at nothing, my mind contemplating all the information swirling around it. I had been assaulted by a barrage of information over the past year, and only then in that dusty bathroom did I finally think back to that not so subtle day. What day I was supposed to think back to, I never knew. There were too many to count.

Outside, the door finally

“You called?” she said.

“Skoro, come here.” I could hear the strike of a match, the captain seemed to have lit his pipe. “We’re getting to port soon, you know that. They’re gonna check this entire ship, I want you to hide in one of the crates in the hold. I’ll have some of the crew arrange it for you.”

“Alright, anything else?” she asked.

“Yes, when the time comes, do what you must.”

“Alright.” She started for the door, but paused halfway. “What about the new guy?”

“What about him?” He questioned back.

“You okay with him?”

“I trust him.”

“Fine,” she finished. She walked to the door, closing it gently behind her.

I waited for a few more minutes, to make sure there would be no more guests. I finally opened the bathroom door cautiously. The captain looked to me, and nodded.

“Should I fetch some water for the sink?”

“No, you can leave.”

I waited for a moment, I needed to clear my head. I finally asked him, “Captain?”

“Yes?”

“Is it a sin to be a coward?”

He pondered over it, never looking back at me or answering.

“Go…”

I did as he commanded, and walked down to the crew’s quarters. I was expecting him to tell me to stay quiet, or to keep this a secret, but I knew better. This was an act of trust, and if he could trust me, I could trust him.

My life was in his hands, and as of that encounter his was in mine.


	4. The Appointed

**I apologize for the extremely long wait. Some stuff of mine caught up to me.**

**\---**

I anticipated that moment.

Like the climax of a story, I watched in excitement for what came next.

In that moment of madness and bliss I awaited it’s birth.

**Chapter 4**

**The Appointed**

The crew was restless, no force in the world could argue with that. We were at least thirteen hours away from the shores of the island. If anything, the crew could put it better than I could. I could hear them ramble on every once in a while. When I was scrubbing the floors or tending to miniature problems, I could hear them talk on and on.

Overall, the final day was a nightmare. We were supposed to get paid when we reached the docks. Yet it got so bad, the Captain himself was restless enough to pay us right there at mid-morning. My share was docked, at least a quarter of what I assumed it should be. Some wise guy had cut the damn thing in half, or in a quarter. I was here for a lifetime it seemed, and I guess sparing my life was three-fourths of my pay already. 

We were paid in the ingots they stole from the ship I accompanied. Not once did the Captain or Quartermaster ever say why or how. I just assumed they ran into a hell of a lot more gold than they anticipated. It didn’t matter at that point anyway. We got our pay, no strings attached, so we just keep our mouths shut and received it. It wasn’t bad pay either, each of those ingots could be worth at least two thousand poke.

Three hours in, it felt just the same. A damn mess is what it was, and I couldn’t handle it. I retreated into the bunking area, where the rest of the crew either sweated themselves to death or beat the time attempting to.  I found myself walking to Doc’s resting place. He sat at a short, wide table. Three other sailors sat next to him, they were all engrossed in a mad game of cards.

“Hey kiddo,” Doc said. Like most days out at sea he didn’t carry a smile with him. “I was hoping you’d show up. More players to swindle.”

“Yea, you can stop talking trash old man. As long as the buy in is cheap,” I replied.

“We’re not playing for money.”

I joined the game to pass the time. As it went on, round after round, conversation was passed along the table. It was trivial, nothing too important to anyone but a sailor. The weather, sea sickness, tall tales and rumors from the sea, you could name anything and we probably talked about it in that hour. It was practically a bouffe of words. After a while I could feel the day take its effect on me, my eyes became dreary and dry.”

“How long has it been,” one of the sailors asked.

“Not long enough,” Doc retorted. “I’d hate the living crap out of it, but I’d rather be drunk than sitting here.”

“What’s so important about this island anyway? What’s making you all so anxious?” I asked.

Another sailor spoke, “It’s not the island genius, it’s land. I’ll finally be able to stretch my legs, get a nice jog or two.”

“But what’s so important about that? If we were still out at sea for the next twelve months you wouldn’t be feeling this way.”

“Well, think about it sid,” Doc sighed. “You were right on that, about the anxiety. It’s just our nature to have that. How long has it been since we’ve seen land? One, maybe two years at most? If this ship sank right now, we would all drown. You swim in any direction and you’d die of exhaustion. You get thrown overboard it’s the same thing, except with humiliation.”

“But how,” I insisted. “I just have to know, why would anyone get that?”

“Because, well, it’s stressful on a boat. You’d be surprised how claustrophobic a thing like this can be after a while.” He banged on the heavy wood behind him. “Take the Crouse here for example, how long is she? How wide and thick? A hundred feet that way, fifty, and then thirty in different directions? Compare that to land, to miles upon miles of open space. Even on the coastline that’s far, far away from drowning. This beauty sinks, and there’s no coming back. I’m surprised you haven’t started to feel the same way about it.”

“Shit Doc,” a crewmember stuttered. “Don’t start that up again, you’re giving me the jitters.”

“Oh, don’t start with me you crybaby!” Doc lit a cigar as he chuckled, “Believe me Sid, I know that feeling. I’ve been around longer than anyone here, longer than this ship existed if I’m being honest.”

“How long is that?” I asked.

“Fifty years.”

“Is that longer than the Captain?”

“You tell me.” He stood up straight, casting his cards onto the table. “Shit, I fold.”

As two others folded, I checked my hand. I realized I didn’t know how to play poker, I folded.

“You’re not so different than us Sid,” Doc retorted. “The anxiety thing I mean.”

“How so?”

“Cause you’re gettin’ it too. Why else would you come to us so curiously?”

A voice cried out from above us, “All hands on deck!” It was the Quartermaster.

“Well shit!” Doc exclaimed. “Looks like time really did pass by.”

As I walked on deck, the clear blue skies gave way to green. A luscious island stood before us, with cliffs and rocks that pierced out of the dirt. Plants grew wherever they could cling onto, and trees littered every side of the island. We circled around to the docks, where we meddled around to park ourselves away from danger. The quartermaster greeted the entire crew on deck, “Good afternoon gentlemen.” He stood tall and foreboding as usual, yet relaxed and relatable. “You should know the drill by now. Don’t tell the locals about our plans, our ship, or your fellow crew. You have an hour to get you’re things done, have at it.”

The Crouse came to a lurching halt. Peering over the side, I could see that we had lined up with the docks below. The anchor dropped and the landing board was drawn. One by one we all walked onto the docks of a foreign and mysterious land.

At least for me that was the case, I knew beforehand that most of the crew had been here multiple times. They talked about it, how it was a trading hub for all things international. It was a real paradise for a pirate. I didn’t know the specific location of the island, but I would guess we were somewhere in the Grass Ocean. It was a long string of seas and ports that stretched to the west of the Grass Continent, then all the way to the Sand Continent.

The island itself was tiny, no more than a few miles in diameter. The short walk from the docks to the town was the first sign of this. A quick jog down the docks, a curving pathway to the left and your walk was done. In front of you would be the village itself,

I would guess we were somewhere in the Grass Ocean, a long string of sea that stretched to the west of the Grass Continent. It was tiny, no more than a few miles in diameter. A quick jog down the docks, a curving pathway to the left, and you were in the center of the town. We stood in front of a sprawling village, thick with foliage. Nearly every surface was covered in some sort of plant life, everything thrived in this simple coexistence. I didn’t know whether my group felt the same awe as I did looking at it. I assume most of them had been there plenty. I never had the chance to find out that day. Like most villages it was sprawling with Pokémon, and I was soon lost in a crowd of faces.

I wandered around, eventually finding my way to the trading post. It was a long, large stand with thousands of tiny little trinkets and items from around the globe. Of course, it was managed by a Kecleon as well. More importantly though, I noticed the small pokemon that I had barely been acquainted with.

“Timburr!” I cheered. The smaller pokemon was startled by my sudden enthusiasm. “I’ve been lost since we got off the boat!” I exclaimed as he turned to me. He looked at me with indifference, his coy expression speaking volumes.

“Yea?” he replied. “Well I’ll admit this place is a hellhole of planning, but at least use a compass Sid.”

“Well that’s where you’re wrong kiddo, I don’t bring a compass like a nerd!”

“Well…fine, you got me there. Now what do you want from me?”

“I need you to show me how to get back to the docks.”

 “Um, no.”

“Oh come on! I’ve saved your ass plenty of times!”

“Since when?”

“Since you can’t win a game of cards to save your life, you’ve come to me every other game to cheat!”

“Yea, well shit you got me again. Alright, I’ll help. Jeez you’re pathetic.” He finished up his business at the shop and started walking down the street. “Cash in your lot, I’ll meet you at the post office.”

“Where is it?”

“For once, just look. You’ll see it.”

“Good lord,” I muttered. I cashed in the small piece of gold. What I got out of it was a satisfying five hundred poke. Not as much as I expected, but not bad either. Considering the fact that sparing my life was enough payment already. I grabbed a few things, a couple berries, a trinket or two. Something to keep me occupied during the boring parts of the voyage.

I eventually made my way back down the road. Sure enough, the post office was as clear as daylight. Inside I could see Timburr, he was fumbling around with a small paper box.

“So,” I asked. “What’cha got there?”

“A thing.” The box was tiny, no bigger than a book. He placed a pouch inside it, which jingled as it was gently let go.

“Who’s it for?” I asked. “Your family?”

“Rumors spread fast huh? I wonder who spreads them.”

“I don’t know, but what I do wonder is why you’re a bit of an asshole.”

“Because, Sid. A small guy like me has to act tough, he doesn’t have to be tough. Hell, he’s never gonna be tough anyways.” He sighed, “I give up. Yes, it’s for my family. My dad, he’s old and sick. Right now my ma’ and I are the only ones with an income.”

“Do they know, about the ship and-“

“Why should you? You shovel shit for a living, what do you want with me?”

“I, I don’t know. I just-“

“You know what, no. It’s fine, I’m sorry.” He paused, “God, I could never tell them the truth. It would kill me. I just give them some bullshit about fishing. Dad, well he has no time left. I’m afraid I might not hear about it until three weeks too late, or even worse, when I get home.”

“So you send them most of your pay?” 

“Yea, it’s everything I can give them.” He turned red real quick, “If you tell anyone what I just…”

“Easy, easy! You can trust me with that.”

“I’d better, I’ll kill you right here otherwise.”

“You can try I bet.”

He laughed as he tied the box down with some string. He plopped in into a slot on the wall, leaving the rest up to the postal service.

“You know Sid, you’re not half bad.”

“Half?”

“You still shovel shit, but if you stick out for me I’ll stick out for you. Deal?”

“Deal.”

We shook on it. Before leaving he turned to me and asked, “You coming?”

“In a bit, I have something I need to do.”

“Right, see ya.”

I sat there, for as long as I could. ‘What am I doing?’ I thought. I couldn’t make things right, but I had to do something though. I couldn’t leave myself feeling this way, and I couldn’t leave her like that either.

I put what was left of the five hundred poke into a paper box. I addressed it back to Treasure Town, with no name written down for the sender. I debated whether to leave a message inside or not, but I hesitated. My nerves got to me, and I just left it as is. The deed was done, it was in the slot. All I could do now was leave it in the back of my head like before.

\-----------------------------

As I walked back to the ship, I could see Timburr sitting on the railing ahead.

 “The captain wants to see you,” Timburr said. “I don’t know what for though, and he wanted me to come as well.”

“Thanks,” I replied.

I walked into the Captain’s quarters. “Sir?” I asked. “You wanted to see me?”

“You, me, and the little guy are going into town.” With absolute certainty he continued, “You prepared for that?”

“Y-yea, but if I may-”

“Go ahead.”

“Why are we-“

“I have to meet an old friend of mine,” he interrupted. “The ‘acquaintance’ everyone is talking about.”

 We walked into town, with Timburr lazily following behind. For some reason the city streets were emptying, as it became less and less crowded the further inland we got.

“Captain?” I asked.

“Yup?”

“Who is this friend of yours anyways?”

He looked behind himself, checking that Timburr was far off. “Not a soul, right?” He smiled.

I nodded.

“He’s someone I’ve known nearly all my life. I was a cabin boy, he was a Quartermaster.”

“Was he there when you took over the Crouse?”

“No, but that’s where I met Borat. We got tired of that life, slaving around for a city that didn’t give a damn about us. That’s when Hypno found out about our plans.”

“Hypno?”

“He’s the friend. He didn’t want anything to do with our plan, and he knew he couldn’t stop us. So he smiled to me and said, ‘You finish what you start, alright?’ Then he just, left. I owe the entire ship to him, that’s why I’ve been helping him.” He stopped in his tracks, “And your last ship was our pay.”

“Did Borat know the guy?”

“Borat,” the Captain sighed. “Yea, he did. They could never really get along, maybe that’s why he has so much apprehension about working with Hypno. But, then again I don’t think Borat is really doing his best.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Oh, there’s many things. Most notably I don’t think he’s willing to put the crew in danger. He doesn’t like when I take risks. He especially made a fuss over taking over your ship, the one with ingots galore. I think you heard most of it the other night.”

“About that, what’s so important about us meeting him? Hypno I mean.”

“Well, like I said. It’s our pay, we got our share already. There’s still thousands of those gold bars in the hold.” He nervously chuckled. “All that gold, that money down there. It makes me quiver a bit. I’ll be glad when it’s gone.” As we continued our walk he said one final thing. “We’re almost there. We’re gonna give him the rest of the gold, shake hands, and leave. His crew can come and pick it up in the morning.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Then I’ll still be quivering.”

We stopped at an old bar, built out of brick and cement. The walls were cracked, and vines were overgrown at every corner. The wooden planks that made up the porch were old and rotted. Dust flew off as we stepped on them, and they creaked beneath our feet.

“May not seem like it, but it’s still open.” The Captain replied. “Timburr, you stay here and watch for anyone suspicious.”

“Like what?” He replied.

“Anyone that isn’t drunk.”

With that, the Captain and I entered. The bar was absolutely empty, not a soul in sight.

 “Weird,” the Captain said. “There’s usually a bartender here.”

“Well, maybe he wandered off.”

“No, he would have to stay here and make sure we’re the only ones who walk to the back.” We picked up the pace, stopping at a door at the end of a long hallway.

“Good god that smell!” I said.

“He’s either not here, or he had to…shit!”

As the door swung open, a horrifically foul and wicked stench filled the air. The Captain’s good friend was there, with a wound to the back of his head. It really was Hypno, he was no older in appearance than the Captain himself. He stooped down, placing a hand on his dead partner. He laid his hand on the floor, letting the blood soak the tips of his claws. He didn’t speak, nor did he cry. I don’t know what he did, he just seemed to kneel there and grieve. 

“Something’s not right,” he finally spoke.

“Huh?”

“It can’t be Treasure Town, they don’t even know what happened to their ship. This island has no grudges towards the Coalpeddlers either.”

“Could it be somebody inside, someone close to you or him?”

“No, couldn’t be. The only other pokemon he knows are the ones he works with.”

“Well then think! It has to be one of them, what if-“

“I’m telling you Sid, it can’t be! It just can’t! He wasn’t that far up in the ranks, so I know it wasn’t a power struggle. This couldn’t be personal either, he was too far from the mainland for that. Damnit Hypno, who did this to you?”

“Captain, I think we have our first clue.” I had noticed something sticking out of the scene in front of me. I reached down into the blood next to his body, pulling out a piece of paper dripping in blood. “It’s coordinates. Minus twelve, forty five, seventeen and forty-nine.”

I handed it over to him. “Doc should be able to figure this out.”

“Doc?”

“Yea,” he said, chuckling a bit. “I can’t read coordinates.”

We stood there and smiled for a moment, it felt like the first time he laughed to me.

The door swung open. It was the Timburr, he sounded like his lungs had popped.

“Captain…holy crap!”

“You idiot! I told you to-“

“We have to leave,” Timburr gasped. “There’s…there’s pokémon all over the town, they’re all looking for you.”

“What do they want? How many?”

“I don’t know, but I counted a hundred. All with guns.”

As we ran into the open, I could see a formation on the hilltops to the left. At least a few dozen pokémon stood at the peak. They looked down on us will ill intent. I could just barely make out the shapes of their muskets as they ran through farmland and brush. The party raised their rifles, and prepared to fire.

“Into the alleyways, quick!” I could barely hear the Captain’s shouts. Almost instantly my blood rose to a rhythmic thump, blocking out any sounds from the outside world. I braced for what was yet to come.

In truth, the hilltop was about two to three hundred feet away. Over long distances their guns would lose their accuracy, but they were no less a threat. Imagine, if you will, seeing a thousand lights flash at you in an instant. I had never seen a bullet before, and I had never seen a line of infantry fire at me either. I awaited death, as I saw that flash and prepared for a barrage of metal.

Surprisingly, I couldn’t feel a thing. Maybe it was my blood pressure, or fate pushing me on. The bullets fired all around us, a scatter of miniature artillery around our feet. They seemed to swerve around us, some form of luck or fate pushing us onward. This wasn’t the case I found out. As the closer we got to the alleyways, the more senses I could feel again. Hearing, touch, one by one they came back. Then, pain once again. As I took one more step on my right leg, a pain like never before sprang up from my nerves.

I stumbled into the alleyway. “I’ve been hit!” I cried in pain.

“Damnit!” the captain bickered. “We don’t have time for this!” He grabbed me by the leg, pulling whatever it was out in a hurry. I winced in pain as he brought it to my face. “They’re iron spikes, it’s not meant to kill you. Walk it off!”

I had no choice, there was no arguing over this situation. I limped as fast as I could to keep up with the duo ahead of me. Slowly the pain went away, revealing their intention to stun rather than kill. We ran from one block to the next, avoiding groups of infantry along the way. We were no more than a few streets away from the docks it seemed. The Captain stood still at the end of an alleyway, hesitating to push forward.

“There’s nowhere to go!” he whispered. “There’s at least five of them around the corner!”

“We’ll have to take them on,” Timburr replied. “Sid, can you use any moves at all?”

“I’ve got vine whip, and a little bit of absorb.”

“Alright, I’ve got rock throw.” He paused, “Lucky me huh?”

“Cut it out!” The Captain became bitter, eager to leave this place it seemed. “You two use whatever you’ve got to distract them, I’ll take the blunt of it. We’ve all got to cross the street…Now!”

Without any warning, he rushed for it. He had a satchel around his waist, three pistols at his side. As we followed, he took one out and fired. Timburr and I attacked with all our moves could do from that distance. I managed to cut one of the infantrymen with the tip of my vine, and Timburr knocked one out cold! The Captain, almost in a flash of motion, proceeded to fire off all three of his pistols. Two of his shots hit.

Timburr and I stopped there, we didn’t know what to expect from the captain but we had just found out. The two of them were dead. Only one pokémon was still standing. He ran away in fear, as the Captain reloaded a pistol and tried to take a potshot at him.

“The ship can’t be that far away, can it?” Timburr  said, panting between each breath.

He was right in a way of sorts. We found ourselves on the last stretch of land, a wide and curving path leading straight to the docks. All around us the forest began to spring up, the path becoming smaller and smaller as we got closer to the beach. Behind us was an entire company of soldiers, each mere seconds away from firing. I didn’t want to look back, I feared if I did I would stop running.

“They’re flanking us!” the Captain cried. “On the left, left!”

A few pokémon darted in and out of the trees, taking reckless shots at us. As we crossed around the bend they jumped into the way. I could see their pupils, from that distance we all met eye to eye.

“Duck!” The command came from the Captain, yet he didn’t follow it himself. Without hesitation, he twisted off a palm leaf. It contorted and stretched in his hands as the group fired their rifles. No fear, no grunt or wheeze of pain came from Captain Jonah. He just wouldn’t stop running, until he was right in front of them. He hacked away with his leaf blade, until there was nothing left but a group of cowering soldiers running away.

“Get up!” he proclaimed. “Move!”

We crossed over an old shambling bridge to find our ship still standing tall. A group of our sailors were firing back into the jungle as the few remaining members of the crew still stranded on the island could escape onboard. We were still at least a few hundred yards away, and from our point no one could spot us. The Crouse Explorer finally let loose the boarding plank and took off in a southward direction.

“No, God damnit, no!” The captain ran out into the hail of bullets. “She’s heading right for us, swim for it!”

My lungs nearly collapsed as we ran down the final stretch of plywood. I lunged as far as I could. The moment the cold water hit me, my mind was a blur. Everything spun and twisted around me. Yet, when I was finally completely submerged, I felt a calming peace. For a moment, or two, I was completely sound; completely sane. Then I had to breathe.

I swam as hard as I could, nearly jumping out of the water for air. I spun around to see the ship heading straight for us, I nearly thought it was going to hit me.

“Last chance!” I could hear the Captain cry out. I couldn’t make out where he was, but I could sense what would come next. The crew threw several ropes down the side of the ship. It was nearly impossible to grab a hold of one, she swooshed by at an unbelievable pace. Nevertheless, I caught a grip. I held on as tight as I could, trying to swing myself out of the water before I could get swept away. Inch by inch, with every heave and pant of my lungs I pulled myself up. My arms felt like wildfires, ready to burn off at any moment.

I lifted myself up to a gunport. I looked behind to see one final group of our crew, I could count three of them. They ran as close as they could, jumping off a cliff a mere yard away from the ship. There was no possibility of them catching the rope in time. They tried with all their might, but even the strongest of them lost their grip and fell into the water below. There was no way for us to go back. They just floated there, watching us escape.

I squeezed through the port. I felt like I could die there, lying on the floor, panting. I could have gotten away with it too. The air moving in and out of my lungs felt like charcoal, scratching and cutting my throat as it flew through me. The crew around me helped me to my feet. We were all still scrambling around. The world was still spinning around us, and we were no more than a hundred yards from the island. I walked onto the deck, ascending one step at a time.

There, on the edge of the ship, was the Captain. He stood right by the railing, watching the island pass us by. His body trembled and shook. His claws buried deep into the wood, leaving heavy marks.

”God damn it…god damn it, god damn it!” He turned to face us all, blood boiling and throbbing between the veins in his eyes. “What the hell just happened? Who the hell was that?” He continued to boil over, his eyes darted back and forth between the crew.

Borat eased toward him, “Jonah, calm down…”

“No, not now! Those bastards just started something they’ll never forget!”

“Jonah, we can’t do this. It’s not a battle we can win!”

“Then what do you propose, we leave them be? Let them chase after us?”

“It’s four fucking ships!”

Captain Jonah remained silent.

“They brought four ships,” Borat continued. “Now they’re all waiting, on every side of the island. We cannot stay here, we have a clear opportunity to run! We can’t screw this up, not now!”

I couldn’t dare speak, I just couldn’t. My mouth felt like it was foaming, and fear ran through my body. Yet through all that, I spoke up by some miracle. “H-hey,” I said shakily through breaths. They turned to me as I spoke slowly. “I don’t know if any of you saw it, but some of us didn’t make it.”

Immediately Borat shivered and gulped. “They tried to jump on with us,” I continued. “When you tossed the ropes for me, the Captain, and Timburr, they jumped from a ledge we passed. There were three, or at least five of them.”

Borat turned to Captain Jonah, who’s temper had already reached beyond any reasonable levels. He twisted his hand shakily into a fist. It looked like he could have broken his hand with how stiff it was. He raised it to Borat, pointing right at the quartermaster.

“No, I’ll tell you what this is. What they’ve done, is stuck a knife in our back and twisted it! Well I’m not going to take that, we’re not going to take that. If they’ve twisted a knife into us, well, we’ll push it right back into them! Prepare the canons, get us ready for combat!”

Almost immediately we all rushed to attention. The Powder Monkeys ran to the guns. The spotter climbed up the shrouds to the crow’s nest above. I watched the captain. The anger in his expression seemed to slowly fade, but I knew better. He had focused it, concentrated it.

Borat just stood there, in some form of solemn defeat. He looked at me, guilt washing over his face. “This isn’t going to help anyone.”

We wrapped around the island. We cleared the brush and the mountains. The town was visible again, as was the hill from before.

An echo from the crow’s nest rang, “I see a ship, to our 4! Other side of the island!” Turning to the target it was clear, the enemy was circling clockwise as well.

“They think we’re still fleeing!” The Captain proclaimed.

“This is wrong,” Borat shuttered. “We shouldn’t be charging into this!” He looked at me, “Surely you understand! We can’t just bum-rush it, at any moment they could set up an-“

“Three ships! To our front and right, along the island. Along the coast!”

“Ambush…” Borat quickly ducked. “Get down! Brace!”

You couldn’t hear it, but off in the distance the enemies fire reigned down upon us. For a second it was silent, then the boom. Then the wood below us shook and shuttered. Looking up, I saw Captain Jonah. He didn’t budge, not one muscle moved an inch. He still stood at the railing, watching the enemy.

A yell echoed from below, “We’re hit! Three shots went right into the hull, gunports damaged!”

Slowly I crawled over to the Captain. Looking up, I saw him observe the enemy. He moved from one spot to the other, his motions carrying his eyes from one edge to the other. Like observing a panting, he noticed every detail and stroke the enemy made.

Once more the ship quivered and shook. The voice from below cried out once more, “We’ve been hit four times now! Injured crew!”

“Thirty three seconds.”

“What?”

“They just reloaded!” He turned to the crew, “They take half a minute to reload! Prepare for the next hit and then we fire.” Turning back to the ships to our right, he continued to study their subtle hints. He slowly mumbled to himself. “So they’re focusing on that side.”

“How did you know?” I asked.

“What?” He turned to me as I repeated myself.

“How did you know what they did?”

“Their gunports, they keep their gunports closed!” He could see I didn’t understand. “The gunports swing upwards, meaning the cannons open them. When they close it means they just fired, and they took 30 seconds to open again!” A loud boom echoed from the target. We endured another hit, the Captain still standing tall, still observing. “That’s it then! They’re completely focusing us from that side of the ship. Their weight is being shifted to the side facing us, they have no one preparing for their blind spot!” He turned to the crew, “Charge straight at them! Get behind the first ship, and prepare the left side!”

The ship quickly turned to outmaneuver the enemy. We glided right past them as they fired at us, all their shots missed. As we turned to charge their blind spot, their position revealed two ships behind them.

“I saw their sails.” The captain almost laughed, “I saw their fucking sails! Full speed, sail right through them!” He showed no halt in his aggression, no stop to his unrelenting attack

The crew heaved and pushed at the sails, turning them ever so slightly. A burst of wind rushed through them, the fates were on our side!  Almost instantaneously we picked up in speed. Our tiny vessel covered the distance in less than a minute.

“Right side! Get ready!” The captain yelled. His command echoed through the ship with the voices of the gunners. We were right on top of them, they were on the right hand side of the ship. “Fire!”

As we sailed past them the cannons echoed. Then pain, the most unbearable pain as my right ear shot up in pain. It pulsed, my body felt engulfed by this white noise that shot through me like a knife.

I could feel the dust settle around me. There was no ship on our right. By some miracle of destruction, the poor thing had sunk faster than anything I had seen before. No wreckage, no remains, it was gone. If you looked hard enough though, you could see it sinking into the depths below. The only signs that there was a ship at all, was when the surviving crew resurfaced for air.

“To the right! Turn us right!” The Captain ordered. He rushed to the left side, as did I.

Once more the crew turned the sails with all their might, forcing The Crouse to its right.

“Left side ready!” He waited, almost boyishly for the exact moment. “Fire!” Just like it’s counterpart, the ship was no more.

You could feel the right side reloading. Their movements and strides echoed through the wood. It vibrated throughout the ship. The Captain knew this as well, and as soon as the movement stopped he commanded to turn left.

“Right side, only a half barrage! Make sure it can still float!” He turned to the sailors on deck, “Slow us down now!”

The crew turned the sails to the side, burning off what speed we had left. We slowly sped down, our ship just barely moving faster than a running pace.

“Fire!”

The enemy ship was less than a few yards away. Our firepower completely overwhelmed them, their hull was fully exposed with holes that ran through both sides of the ship. It almost seemed alive for a moment. The ship’s creaking was a withering breath, slowly leaving its body before dying, or sinking as it were. A mass of heat and flame burst from the depths of the ship, forcing up a fireball in its wake.

“Get a boarding party ready!”

Within a moment we were onboard. Our feet pressed down on blackened wood, practically charcoal at this point. There were only a few seconds of silence before the haste began once more. Echoes of surrender and yells for assistance rang throughout the sinking ship. Prisoners were escorted from the hollow storage below, and stolen goods were already being brought back up to The Crouse.

Captain Jonah almost seemed furious as he walked on deck. His sudden burst of pride left just as fast as it came. “Where is your captain?” He walked around each of the prisoners, inspecting every last one of them. “Goddamnit! Where is he?” He was looking for any movement, any sudden jolt or cold sweat that would give the poor bastard away.

That moment finally came, when he noticed one of the prisoners quivering. He was a young pokemon, no older than I was. His shoulders drooped low as he shook nervously. He looked up as the captain leered over him. He blocked out the sun as his long, streaking shadow cast over the boy.

He picked up the lad by the scruff of his neck. “Bastard!” he roared. “Your captain is here somewhere, where is he?”

“W-we don’t have the captain,” a prisoner spoke. “H-he was on the first ship you sunk.”

The Captain moved to the one who spoke, a much older and larger individual. There was no doubt that fear overtook him, but through each heavy breath he became calmer and calmer.

“Well then,” the Captain responded. He held his tongue, keeping his voice low. “Who would be second in command then?”

“After these chain of events, that would be me.”

He looked up to the captain, who stood over him for an immense time.

“Get me the paper.” He walked back to our ship, “Get me the fucking paper!” Boris arrived on deck with the note in his hands. Captain Jonah took the note, jerking it out of the bear’s hand.

“We took this from a ‘friend’ of ours. He’s gone now, and I’m wondering who took him out, and their knowledge of this.” He held the paper to the Pokémon’s eyesight. “These are coordinates, no? Where do they lead?”

“An island, in the middle of the ocean near the Sand Continent. We…were given a paper like that; told to search for an object of some kind. Something that came from legendary Pokémon.”

“And what about this object?”

“Please, that’s all I know.”

“Not good enough, one more thing before I let you people rot. Who sent you?”

The poor soul began to stutter. He whispered out loud over and over, “I can’t say, I can’t say.”

“C’mon, make this easy,” the Captain said. He wrapped his claws around the sailor’s neck, almost drawing blood.

“The Coalburners,” The young one blurted out. “It was the Coalburners!”

“Idiot, bloody idiot!” Cried the older one.

“Get them on board, we drop them off handcuffed on the shore.” The Captain walked back to our ship as the crew disassembled.

I turned to Borat, “Why would they be upset because one of their own ratted?”

He pointed to Captain Jonah, “They’re now dead to both him, and their own crew.”

The prisoners were lead on board. The young one wept as we brought them down into the hold, his comrades cursing him out all the way there. I wished the young Pokémon wouldn’t come to any harm, I wish he could have had the same opportunity as I. Like all wishful thinking, that would never happen. We  stopped at the harbor, picked up the crew that was left behind, and set off. As far as I could understand from the reports coming from the crow’s nest, we still had one ship tailing at least one mile behind us.

\--

It was nearly sunset when the air finally felt calm again. For an hour I held myself there mentally. I just couldn’t get up, not because of my leg either. I don’t know how, but that was the first time I felt my life truly threatened. Yet, that wasn’t what I was so afraid of. For a few moments back there, while I was with the Captain. When I watched him change so suddenly, when his emotions rode up and down, I almost enjoyed that thrill.

It was different now. Just like rum, I felt regret after the act. I mustered up the strength to stand, and I shuffled into the hold below.

The door creaked as I walked into Doc’s office. It was wide and densely packed. A large set of windows enclosed the southernmost part of the room. They emanated the evening light into the room. A dark, orange-like glow filled the dusty compartment. I hadn’t been there since the day I lost half of my hearing.

“Hey Doc.”

He was silent for a moment, I don’t think he realized I entered. “First time getting shot?”

“Hopefully the last.”

“Well, you know how life goes.” He gathered his equipment and inspected the wound as he spoke. “You have a first, then second and third.” He hummed for a moment as he fooled around with the wound. “Right, I’m gonna have to amputate…What? No surgery humor? Suit yourself.” He brought out a short needle, and a thin black twine. “I’ll stitch it for you, but I’m relying on your body to do the rest.”

He began to stitch the hole in my leg. Each time his needle pierced my skin a sharp pain emanated from the same spot. He knew this, no doubt about it. I think that’s why he spoke to me, ease my nerves I guess.

“How’s the ear?” he asked.

“Still can’t hear anything, but I felt something when we fired the cannons. Some awful pain shot through me.”

“Damn, your eardrum might be dead. If you felt something though, it’s just barely hanging around. Either way, that thing is not going to work again.” He paused for a moment to focus.

“Hey doc, do you remember this morning-”

“I’m not drunk.”

“Right, of course you do. I asked you how long you had been a sailor, and you replied fifty years.”

“Right”

“Well, that’s older than the Crouse. So where were you before this? What did you do fifty years ago?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“What?”

“That’s right. Before my days at sea, I did nothing at all.”

“Slowpoke?”

“Even worse, I didn’t exist. Do keep that closed now.” He cut the thread, and gave the wound a hard slap. “I’m about fifty, back then I wasn’t even born. I was born here, at sea.”

“Really?”

“You bet’cha. Pure, untouched sea-legs through and through.” He sat down in front of me. “Go ahead, get it out of your system. A Charmelion at sea eh? Doesn’t hurt to laugh.”

“Wouldn’t you be scared?”

“Of what?”

“Your tail, if it goes out you die.”

“Oh, to hell with that! Same thing could happen on land during a rainstorm. I never chose to go back to land, I didn’t have any will to do so. I was fascinated by the sea, raised by it if you will. I visited dry land every once in a while but I never stayed more than a few days. So, I was a pure sailor from then on.”

“So where did you start?”

“A tourist trap, commercial ship if you will. We transported people across the globe. I was an apprentice for a doctor onboard. I worked for free outside of meals.”

“Why a doctor?”

“Well that was his decision, not mine. If you’re talking about me then I did it out of necessity.”

“Necessity?”

“After a while being at sea feels worthless. If my whole life is dedicated to just being on a ship, than what do I have to give to other people? So I wanted to help people. The opportunity presented itself, so I trained under a doctor. One thing led to another, and that’s how I got first aid training. He hired me as his permanent apprentice, and that’s where I learned surgery. I’m not a real doctor, I haven’t got a certificate or some shiny badge. That’s what makes me dangerous, and why I got hired on this boat.”

“How did that happen?”

“Well, me and that doctor traveled all over the place. Ship to ship, we would always be transferring. Like me he had a taste for salt water, so we always took jobs out here on the blue. He died of old age a long time ago, poor guy. I wandered for a bit, still did the same jobs.” He looked up, “This ship is what, thirty years old? The captain stole it a while back, you realize what she is? Or, at least, what she is now?”

“No, honestly I don’t.”

“She was a tourist boat, ferried the richest pokemon alive. Ol’ Jonah here commandeered it, he was a crewmember or something. He was sick of something onboard, I don’t remember the story. But with the help of the bear, and the majority of the crew, he stole this entire thing. Turned her into a privateering vessel. Works for any form of government willing to pay.”

“So a mercenary?”

“Right, piracy under law. Anything this poor old ship does can be written off as part of whatever war is going on. So, I was just like you. I was working on a ship when he outgunned it. Fucker just parks up right next to us, fires a few shots and boards us. Some hotshot little shit runs downstairs where I am, at this point I don’t know what’s going on. This kid, he had some sort of fire in him. He could have gotten orders from the captain himself and he wouldn’t have listened. Right then and there I could tell he would have killed me.” Doc stood up, gripping a sturdy surgical saw. “So I grabbed one of these, and killed him! That’s how I got this scar, this big chunk of me cut out!”

“So what happened next?”

“Well, his buddies come downstairs and tackle me. Took five of them to do so, tied my hands up tight and dragged me upstairs. From that I knew, I knew these guys had all the signs I needed to con the bastards. Sluggish movements, weakness, missing teeth. They had scurvy, and they were suffering. Best part is, a good doctor keeps his mouth shut out here at sea. That’s what my mentor did, and that’s what I did too. These guys didn’t know a thing about scurvy, let alone how to cure it. This is where you and I separate in terms of similarities.”

“Why?”

“Cause unlike you I didn’t beg! I knew from the moment I saw the captain walk slowly, menacingly up to me I could turn him back around with his tail between his legs! I earned respect straight away, and you want to know how? I told him the truth, plain and simple. I was a doctor, and his men were sick as can be. I wouldn’t speak, I wouldn’t spit out my secrets no matter what. But if he got me onboard as their doctor I could heal their entire crew. If not, they all die alongside me. That put him off guard, and like that I was hired. Took me a few days to cure them too, told them they needed to get to a port and fast too. You want to know my little secret? What I did to cure all of those guys? Fruit, fresh fruit.”

He laughed, “Scurvy comes from a lack of a vitamin from fruit. So in less than a week, I had the entire crew’s respect, and I had a secure job for as long as this ship still stood. So, here we are, and the ship is still standing!”

“And the crew?”

“Well, the original crew isn’t here anymore. They either died, got thrown overboard, or left with money in their pockets. Most of this crew are new, not any older than you either. I’d say on average about five years older. But hell, if there’s any reason the captain is paranoid it’s because of me and Borat. He has attempted to have full control of the ship alongside Borat. If Borat wasn’t around this would practically be a dictatorship, and no one would stay. They love him, adore him! He’s the cool one around here, he’s the one who keeps everything level headed. That bear goes and so does the crew. I’m the instigator of that, the crew trusts me because I save lives. If Borat ‘disappears’ then they come to me for help.”

He stood up, “That’s it then. Your leg is fine, just keep it clean and don’t mess around with the wound. You’ll have to come back every once in a while though, we gotta keep the stitches tight.”

“Right, thanks.” As I stood up, I asked him one last thing. “Hey doc,” I began. “Where were your parents from anyway?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I don’t feel like leaving yet, still stings.”

“Well too bad.” He packed some tools in a small handbag. “I need to check on the injured boys out there. But if you really want to know, my mother died having me. There wasn’t even a doctor on the ship when I was conceived.”

“And your dad?”

“My dad,” he sighed. “Well to put it short, I’m the reason why he drank.” He paused for a while, looking down at his feet. “Sid, you do realize who you are right? The captain, he adores you. Hell, you two look like father and son.”

“We do?”

“Yea. If anyone could mend the problems between him and the crew, it’s you. I don’t give one shit about those new prisoners, but I don’t want to see them die for nothing. Don’t lose yourself with him, your one of us no matter what, teasing and all.”

“Alright.” I almost left, but then I remembered. I had one last thing to ask him. “Doc, what’s your name. Your actual one?”

“I never had one, but we are what we do. So that’s what I am, a doctor first.”

“Alright, good night.”

“Don’t forget, I don’t want that fucking wound opening up again. You keep that thing clean!”

“As long as you don’t amputate!”

“You couldn’t stop me if you tried kid.” He walked out of his office with me, observing the ship as we walked. “Funny, we’re slowing down.” He yelled out to a young passerby. “Hey kid! What’s going on up there?”

“The captain’s gettin’ us to slow down. He’s gonna let that other ship catch up!”


	5. Pitfall

There was no guilt, no reconciliation.

This was my judgement.

I was just, alone.

 

 

**Chapter Five: Pitfall**

 

“What the hell?” Doc mumbled. “Go see what’s up.”

 I ascended the staircase, unable to see anything for a moment. The bright sunset blocked my vision. The only thing recognizable was the visage of a Pokémon near the railing.

Suddenly the light cut out. The craft that had been tailing us for the past few hours had finally caught up. It blocked out the sun with its massive height, and it had dozens upon dozens of cannons aiming right at us. The only Pokémon who stood before it on deck was the Captain. I began to question his sanity, as once more he stared right up at the hulking military craft without a hint of fear.

“Holy shit!” I muttered to myself.

“What was that?” Doc whispered, peering out from downstairs.

“It’s the ship that was following us,” I whispered back. “It’s massive, at least two times bigger than ours!” I could see our shipmates on the other side of the deck. They were hiding behind a doorway, with muskets in all of their hands. “I think the others are setting up an ambush, hand me a rifle!”

I’ll admit, I knew nothing about firing a gun. I didn’t even know how to hold one, but when Doc threw me a weapon I didn’t hesitate. I had my sight and my trigger. That was all I needed to know. I sat there, between the doorway and the open deck. One hand was gripping the rifle, the other I used to peer over the side of the doorway. The captain was still there of course, gripping his belt tightly. He too, was ready for a fight. There was a tall wooden door in the side of the craft. It was beaten and chipped, worn from it’s fair share of combat. They swung open, revealing the dark interior of the ship.

“You have some of our own,” a voice called. “Or so I’ve heard.”

“Yea?” the Captain yelled back. “Leave us be, and you’ll get them back!”

“Well then show us! No point in this squabble if you don’t have them!” The voice was cocky, intimidating for all the wrong reasons.

The Captain called to the crew, and they went for the prisoners. My heart was racing, pounding even. That feeling of excitement crept back to me, urged me on into whatever unfolded next. 

The crew brought up the prisoners. The five of them dropped to the floor, their hands tied and their mouths gagged.

“Well alright,” the voice inquired. “Hand ‘em over then.”

“Who’s to say you won’t fire on us when you get them?”

“Right, who’s saying that? You or me?”

“Damn it!” the Captain hissed. “You either agree to not fire, or I’ll kill them!” He held his flint lock up to the prisoners.

“It’s just five people, not worth your ammo.”

“Same amount you almost took from me! Still not a waste? We’re doing this then, right?”

“Alright!”

“Stop it!” Borat roared. He stormed to the Captain, his eyes ablaze like molten fire. “Both of us, stop it!” He looked to Captain Jonah, “I know you wouldn’t do this, you wouldn’t risk the lives of our crew for something as petty as this.” He pointed to the door in the other ship, “Neither would you, but we’ve both just come out of a heated battle. Our blood is still boiling.”

It seemed like he couldn’t reach an ultimatum. The Captain was still vengeful no doubt, and the enemy ship didn’t seem to like peaceful negotiations. “Let’s calm down,” Borat continued. “There has to be a solution, even if it’s not obvious. Blood doesn’t have to be spilled like this, not when we both have injured crew on board.” He thought for a moment, “I’ve got it, the lifeboats!”

“What?”

“The lifeboats, the ones we have downstairs.” He called to the crew, “Get one of them, quick!”

“Not, like this.” Jonah whispered. I could just make him out, “We only have two, what happens then?”

“This is our only option!” Borat hissed back.

The lifeboat was lifted up through the grate in the deck. The crew carried it to the side of the ship, and fitted it on a pulley.

“We’ll lower them on the other side,” the Quartermaster called. “You’ll get your crew peacefully, and we can disengage. Do we have a deal?” There was no answer, yet Borat motioned to the crew to lower the boat. The hostages plopped gently into the water.

The other ship had been waiting for this. Their captain, I presume, spoke back. “Alright, we’ll give you twenty four hours.”

Borat lurched in shock, “I thought we had a deal!”

“We do, but we’re being paid times the number of ships you take out. The Coalburners don’t seem to take you boys very lightly. I’m a smart man, and usually our kind doesn’t miss out on a bounty like this.”

“But we’re privateers, for the Coalburners!”

“As are we, I suppose this is a rivalry huh? I’ll give you that much then,” he chimed. “If you can reach any tax haven, or ally of yours, I’ll disengage. Otherwise you have a day to prepare.” The doors closed, and one last call echoed from the massive ship. “Good luck gentlemen!”

There was a long silence. Then, the Captain cried out, “Go, go!” Our ship took to the wind, pushing us away from the deadly encounter, and our lifeboat. I sighed, yet my heart still beat like a drum without rhythm.

 “Damnit,” the Captain huffed. “We going to die, and we lost a lifeboat!”

“Oh, pipe down!” Borat yelled back.

“I had the damn thing covered! I had the whole situation in my hands and you blew it!”

“What you were doing was escalating the problem! I wasn’t going to sit by idly while you endangered us all, or even those Pokémon who had nothing to do with this!”

“Need I remind you Borat, you were about to leave five of our crewmembers behind because of your fucking cowardice!”

“Damnit, I didn’t know!”

“Just like you didn’t know my plans to meet up with the same Pokémon we’ve been getting paid by for the past decade! Or how you didn’t know about the trade ship being Coalburner property!”

“I’m not a god, I can’t know every-“

“I did my research! I scouted, I planned it! I knew well beforehand what we were supposed to do, all you’ve done is third-wheel your way onto my ship! Fucking coward!”

The Captain stormed off to his room, while the quartermaster stood there for a while. That evening the sun set in a peculiarly red color, and the crew felt divided. I had to explain in detail what had happened to Doc. He told me they had fought before, and he described a few of those events.

“Nothing like this though,” he explained. His hands were busy dressing wounds and fixing the cuts of the other officers. “They would fight yes, but they would immediately make up afterwards.”

“This can’t be much more than that can it?” I asked. “I mean you guys have fought countless ships before, you said yourself there have been bigger ships than that.”

“Oh this is serious Sid, nothing like that is happening. Remember, back then we were privateers.”

“We still are, but…”

“But what? We’re fighting our own now, or is it just mutiny? Sid, it’s self-evident isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“Your ship, the merchant ship you worked on, it was Coalburner property. The Captain took a risk raiding that ship, he probably thought it would be a quick payoff. We raid that ship, then go about on our actual business fighting off other pirates.”

“There’s something I’m not understanding here! The Captain said-“

“Said it was our pay right? I’m sorry for cutting you off Sid, but there’s something he’s either forgetting or most likely he’s just keeping from you.” He leaned in, and spoke in a very soft voice. “The Hypno was the only person who knew what we did, he set up the entire ordeal!” He leaned back, “Now there’s something up, someone knows what we did. Someone we have never even met knows that we stole that gold under their own flag. They’ve figured out who might be the snitch, Hypno, he’s now dead. They’ve figured out the crew that stole their gold, ours. They’ve probably figured out that we stole this ship from them too, right out under their noses. Those ships that were after us, they are not Coalburner. They weren’t even running any flags. The fact is they want this whole escapade covered up so nothing goes back to them.”

 “Sid,” he continued. “You have to fix this. One way or another, the Captain chose you.  Now you’ve gotta deal with the both of them, and make them work together. Right now, we can’t get split up like this.”

Doc sent me off to find the Quartermaster, in some respect I wish he didn’t. He was easy to find, but the atmosphere around him was depressing. The sun had already fallen below the sea, and I found the Quartermaster standing at the railing of the deck.

“Sir?” I asked. As I moved closer, I noticed the bottle in his hand.

He sighed, “You don’t have to call me that. I don’t think I’m cut out for this job anyways.”

I didn’t answer back, and he just continued to stare at the horizon. Eventually, the stars began to blink into view, and one by one they reflected off his eyes. 

“I was supposed to leave,” he gulped. “I was supposed to leave the crew at the island, head back to my family somehow. I, I don’t know. Something just told me to stay, maybe my gut.” He chuckled, “Or my lack of wisdom. It just felt right to stay, I couldn’t abandon the crew. Not like that I hope.”

He took a few gulps, “Now, I’ve failed the crew.”

“Sir, you-“

“No! I failed the crew, period. It’s my fucking fault we’re stuck in this mess, I’m the one who set this thing off.”

“You did what you had to do!” I exclaimed. “If you weren’t there, those sailors from the other ship would have been dead. Our own crew would be dead! I mean you said it yourself, everyone was still in shock from the battle. There was no other alternative, you took the peaceful route!”

I tried to bargain with him, I pleaded for his own sake. I guess I couldn’t reach him.

“There’s a reason for this,” he blurted out. “I’ve always believed things happen for a reason, but this. I just can’t see where this is leading.” He turned to me and said, “I’ve always loved this crew. From the day I started, before this was a pirate ship, I loved it here! I wouldn’t let these pokemon down, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Foolish of me to say, especially leading a life like this, but it’s like a family to me. I feel more connected than my grandkids of all things.”

He sobbed, “God, when I saw that army marching onto the island I just knew we had to get out of there. I tried to be reasonable, I honestly did. When I heard we left a few of our own behind, I just…stopped. I couldn’t move an inch, I couldn’t think or speak. Now, were in even more trouble, and I’m afraid for all of us. You know what this means don’t you? I’m the enemy now!”

“You’re not, it’s just a heat of the moment thing! The crew honors you, respects you. Maybe you stayed because this is where you belong! Like you said, there’s a purpose to this all. Maybe you’re supposed to save us from this!”

“Maybe.”

I bargained with him once more. “Please,” I pleaded. “Let me have the bottle. You can’t get drunk, not now at least. Whether you like it or not, you and the Captain have to figure something out by the end of tonight. It doesn’t matter whether-“

“You two!” a crewmember shouted. “The Captain wants to see you both.”

“You hear that?” Borat asked. “He’s not even calling me sir anymore.”

“He was talking to both of us,” I reassured him. “Besides, who would ever call me sir?”

 

\---

 

They had been standing there for ten minutes, just watching each other.

“Sid…Captain, I’m sorry. It’s my fault we’re in this mess, and I assure you I’ll find us a way out.”

“Indeed you will,” he replied. “Let’s face it Borat, there was no other option. Now, we have only one option.” He pointed down to the map on his desk. “We’re too far from any major ports, closest is the island we just came from. Even if we did go back they would just strike us, it’s a neutral port so it’s out of their bargain.”

“Then what now, we prepare for battle?”

“No, we’re too small to take them on. At least not now, the ship is broken and we don’t have any remaining supplies. Plus, our engineer is injured. I got doc to translate those coordinates we got, Sid, and we’re not too far from where they lead.” His finger drew a line from our current position, to the coordinated point. “There’s nothing recorded there, so it’s a brand new island. Now why would there be a new island in less than a month? Well…”

Turning to a book on his desk, he flipped through the pages. “There!” he pointed. “That’s what’s happening, Groudon is reappearing on the surface! It’s been recorded through most of history, that every fifty or so years the legendary Groudon reappears at the surface. Hypno must have figured out where he would reappear, and was going to try to take the treasure!”

“What treasure?” Borat asked.

It seemed as if the Captain had a new page for everything. “The Terra Cymbals! A pair of musical cymbals that had unmeasurable power! Albeit, unknown power. Several decades ago, the duo that saved time beat Groudon at the Shimmer Desert. Because of that, they received the only recorded instance of the treasure. A year later, the cymbals disappeared and so did the mystery dungeon that hid them.”

“So this is the new mystery dungeon, an island in the middle of nowhere.”

“Exactly!”

“So what’s our plan then? We just go and hide in a mystery dungeon?”

“No, I say we get those symbols!”

“Jonah, we don’t have anyone who could possibly go up against a legendary one on one!” Borat insisted.

“We’ll send them out in teams, find the symbols and use them against that ship. That’s where Sid comes in.”

“Me?” I pondered.

“Right, you and the Quartermaster will set foot on the island. You’ll remain hidden on that island for as long as possible. You remember that captain of the other privateer ship? He was cocky as all hell! There’s no doubt he would lead an army on shore to get the rest of you. When he does so, you will rush the ship and take it over.”

“So what happens to you?”

“I and a few others will stay on the ship. We’ll drop you off, and continue heading south. With luck, that should give you enough time to get the treasure and attack their ship.”

“Are you sure about this Jonah?” Borat questioned.  “You would be captured, even tortured.”

“I could take it. Besides, it would be up to you to sink their ship.”

“So it’s decided?” I spoke up. “We’ll set foot on the island while you distract the privateers?”

“As long as you’re up for it, while I’m on the ship you’ll be put in charge.”

“Me?”

“Well, you’ll be below the Quartermaster in theory, but you will pretty much be on equal fronts.”

Borat turned to me, “I’m fine with that.”

“Alright,” I said shakily. “I’ll be in charge.”

“Then it’s settled,” the Captain boasted. “We have twelve hours to reach the island, then another eight to lose those bastard’s trail.”

As we agreed to our plan, the Quartermaster reached out to the Captain for a handshake. He refused the offer.

Borat looked absolutely defeated, and dragged himself out of the room.

“Don’t go yet,” the Captain called to me. “I need to speak to you about something.”

“Alright what-“

“Shh,” he whispered. He listened as Borat closed the door to his cabin. He continued to listen as Borat’s steps got further and further away.

He grabbed me by the shoulders. “Sid I can’t trust him anymore, he’s going way too far with all of this!”

“But why?”

“You’ve seen the way he looks at me, the way he argued just a few days ago! I just can’t trust him as the Quartermaster, something is going on with that man and I need someone I can trust.”

“Ok, but what do you mean by that?”

“You remember that girl I hired? The Quilava? She’s my bodyguard, I hired her for this exact reason. But she, she’s just here for the money! I need someone like me, someone I can actually trust!”

“You mean me?”

“Exactly! I need to know right now that you’ll support me in this. If anything, anything goes wrong whatsoever, you report it to me or her. Got it?”

He left me in a rather precarious spot. “Well…yea I suppose but-“

“Great! I don’t need anything else from you, just follow our plan to the mark and we’re set!” He calmed himself for a moment. “I trust you on this, Sid.”

“Alright,” I smiled. As I left I asked, “If I may ask sir, why me though?”

“I need someone in my own likeness, flesh and blood if you were.”

The gears in my head span a little faster than I would have liked them to. “About the girl,” I asked.

“That’s two questions Sid.”

“I know, but if she’s your bodyguard then why don’t I see her around.”

“…For secrecy reasons.”

“Right, I’ll leave you be.” I closed the door in a hurry.

I can’t explain it, but there was this overwhelming sense of joy in me. For a moment there, I felt genuine trust from him. During the twelve hour trip, I reminisced on what he told me.  

 

\---

 

Those twelve hours were like paint drying. I couldn’t sleep, everyone slept like a damn baby yet I couldn’t. All I could really do is just sit in my bunk, and think. I thought about our plan, about where I was, how I got here. I couldn’t wrap my mind around any details, I just…thought.

At the eight hour mark, the sun rose to greet a very miserable crew. At the same time, an aviation team was set up. It was a group of flying Pokémon, our only flying Pokémon. They were ordered to fly as high as they could and scout a few miles in each direction. Their estimate, our pursuers were five miles away. It would take them a good twenty four hours to fully catch up at their full speed. The Captain, the Quartermaster, and I agreed once more on the plan. Suddenly, the four hours didn’t seem so long after all. Perhaps it was all the adrenaline we mustered up over the past day. That adrenaline is what kept us going, even when trekking through the uncanny valley.

Even from a distance, the island felt artificial. The spacing of the trees, the rocks and the waves, it just wasn’t natural. The sea bent in weird directions, and for a brief moment in time I almost suspected the ghoulish place of rejecting us. It seemed to try and push us away from the island, albeit in a subtle way.

From far away it wasn’t noticeable just how artificial the place looked. Sure, from a distance you would get that feeling of dread and superstition. For any desperate traveler though, you wouldn’t realize it until you were staring at it from just a few yards away. There was no sand whatsoever, every beach was just an assortment of rocks. They looked black and muddy, it was as if they were still hot from their creation. Creation had to have been a million years ago though, yet by some odd reasoning the island looked like it had emerged overnight.

Another report from the aviation team came in. From their estimates the island was at least a few miles in diameter. There was plenty of foliage to keep us hidden, and native fruits grew all over the island. Yet there wasn’t a single Pokémon in sight, as far as we knew the island was completely uninhabited.

 Everyone’s nerves told them to flee. There was nothing promising about this island, but we took the risk as it was our last option. With the anchor lowered, we set ashore at the southern beaches of the island. These beaches had absolutely no sand. It was just a collection of darkened rock, which felt warm underneath my feet. They had to have been only a few days old, it was the only logical explanation to their natural warmth. I felt the gentle waves swish against my feet. The rock warmed the wave as it moved inland. The water turned lukewarm as it dragged itself back to sea.

“That’s it then!” Borat yelled back to the ship. “Everything’s unloaded, we’re ready to move inland!”

The Captain walked down onto the island, a last minute goodbye I suppose. “About that handshake,” he smugly said. He extended his hand to the Quartermaster, who gladly accepted. “I’m sorry,” were his last words to the Pokémon.

His arm moved away from him, over to me instead. “Don’t forget our promise,” he requested. He spoke in a voice as soft as he could muster.

“I could never Sir!” I replied. With that, he walked back onboard with the crew who would remain with him. Some waved as they left, the others seemed to just go back to their jobs. Whatever the case, everyone knew we wouldn’t be seeing the other half for more than we expected. 

As we expanded further inland, the forest grew denser with every step. Timburr then stopped, and pointed me towards a patch of grass.

“Look at this,” he said. He stuck his fingers into the layer of grass and dirt, the thin layer was no more than a few inches thick. “Hey Doc! Come check this out!” He lifted it up for him, revealing the layer of rock just inches underneath it.

“What the hell?” He came up and lifted it for himself, inspecting the piece of rock underneath. It was smooth, almost unbelievably smooth.

“Wait a minute,” Timburr inquired. “If this is just a few inches think, then that means…”

The young Pokémon jumped up, bashing himself against a tree.

“What the hell are you…” Doc didn’t finish his response, for good reason too. Even for his size, Tumburr easily shook the tree with his weight.

I soon realized what he was thinking, and rushed to help push the tree over. It had to be a few hundred pounds. Yet, for all that weight the tree bent and moved rather quickly. Soon enough with all our might the tree toppled, revealing Timburr’s reasoning. If the dirt was only a few inches deep, then so were the roots.

“Something’s definitely wrong here.” Doc quivered. “There’s no way this could exist, it’s too surreal. It’s too…artificial.”

 “Well it’s not going to matter now,” I replied. “There’s food here, and an artifact we need to recover. It might as well be home now.”

“Yea, you would say that,” Timburr snorted. “Why the Captain put you in charge is beyond me.” He walked back into the group.

When he was out of earshot, Doc walked up to me. “It’s like I said, you’ve got a good shot at turning this whole thing around. But while we’re on the subject, are you sure we’re safe here?”

“We have the entire Coalburner fleet after us it seems, so of course not. Just keep in mind we’re not here permanently.”

“I understand. We’re definitely going to find a mystery dungeon here soon, you caught up with your move set?”

“Yea, I think.”

“Alright, but if you need any catching up I can help. I remember a few things from back in the day.”

While he finished, I recognized someone in the crowd. It was the Quilava from that one moment so very long ago. I had just remembered her, one of the Pokémon who argued in my defense back on the sinking trader ship. I had noticed her every once in a while below the deck, a glimpse here or there. I never saw her outside of those moments though, it was as if she was hidden away below deck.

“You okay?” Doc wondered. “You lost your other ear?”

“Yea…I mean no, no I haven’t. Just wasn’t paying attention.”

“I asked about your knowledge on healing.”

“I know just about nothing on the subject.”

“Then you meet with me at sunset every night. It’s obvious you’re going into whatever mystery dungeon is here, you’ll need to support whoever else is going in with you.”

“Fine then, but before you go. What do you know about that Quilava?”

“What, Skoro?”

“Yea, I’ve barely seen her outside of a few events, and she’s almost never above the hold. What’s her deal?” I merely asked to get his opinion.

“The Captain hired her a while back. It was a long time before you, about six months to be precise. I’ve heard next to nothing about her being detained or something, so it’s of her own accord. The Captain and her have been secretive about everything, I don’t know why though. They’re probably cooking something up.”

“Maybe, I’ll keep an eye on her. Maybe she’s trustworthy?”

“Certainly, the rest of the crew doesn’t mind her. When she speaks, it’s useful.”

As we continued inland, conversation became scarce. Even the Quartermaster, who yelled something back to us every once in a while, was getting tired. The island’s forestry wrapped around like a maze, and it was no surprise that we got tuckered out rather easily.

The aviation team had no luck either, as it was impossible to spot us from above. We even lost them every once in a while, forcing us to stop every hour or so. Our plan was crumbling apart right before us. At that point, improvisation became our greatest asset. So with stern determination and blistered feet, we set up camp where we stopped.

A clearing would’ve been too obvious, especially when our aggressors finally caught on to our scheme.  So we huddled down into small tents build in and around the trees. We had at least thirty to forty Pokémon on the island, which was an achievement compared to the previous population. By the time noon had arrived, we had a very intricate system of tents hidden behind foliage. We had at least another twenty-four hours before the mercenaries would find us. We had supplies to last us a week, and enough gunpowder to defeat an army.

It took two days to find the mystery dungeon. It started at the base of the volcano, a large cave that dropped inward. No attempt was made to enter yet, and for good reason too. Our nerves were wrecked, and our patience grew thin. Every moment of the day turned into a panic. The enemy was either a day’s worth away, or an hour.

Without hesitation, the Quartermaster ordered the crew to immediate action. He spent hours on end in his tent, crafting plots and plans in the case of an invasion. The crew would rush off in groups and hide around the island. Hopefully, this would divide the upcoming battalion enough to take them out one by one. I was stuck with ordering the crew around, telling them where to go and what to do.

 On the evening of the second day, the Quartermaster prepared a meeting with me. We met at his roomy tent.

He had a table sitting in the middle of the place, it was just an assortment of logs strapped together. There was a map laying on it that was hastily made. It was a basic outline of the island, which included the location of the mystery dungeon and the crew’s hiding spots.

“Well, you’ve certainly been busy.” I spoke.

“As have you. Are you feeling well?” he asked.

“I guess, but this waiting is getting on my nerves.”

“I hope that feeling doesn’t stay for long, I need you to follow me into the mystery dungeon.”

“Me?”

“Yes, why do you think Doc’s been training you these past few days?”

“But what about the camp? Who’s going to be in charge while we’re gone?”

 “There won’t be a camp, we’ll all split up for good at that point. The air team will keep tabs from above the tree line. When they see that we’ve exited the cave safely, they’ll get the crew to rally up at the volcano.”

“Right, so what’s the plan for the dungeon?” I urged.

“You, me, the girl, and someone of your choice.”

“The Quilava? Why her?”

“She’s a fire type right? What better use for her than in a volcano.”

“Do you trust her?”

“She’s just another crewmember. Unless, is there some reason I shouldn’t?”

“No, of course not.”

“Good, then make sure your pick still knows how to use their moves. We’ll have our weapons, but I doubt they’ll be of much use down there.” He stopped for but a brief second. He was breathing heavily, barely taking in breaths between his words. “Sid, I really want to prove myself to the crew again.”

“But they already trust you, you don’t need-“

“I know, but…I screwed up back at the port. I need to make it up to them, I have to! That’s why it’s just us four going in there, I don’t want to put anyone else in danger.”

“What if we don’t get out?” I asked.

“Then god help them I guess.”

Those words felt like our mission statement. They definitely spoke to me, and not in a pleasant way.  Anxiety was running high in our camp, and the more we drew out this little escapade, the worse it would get.

It was the last night I would see this camp, right before my nerves would probably kill me. Yet with each passing second it all seemed pointless. The camp, the ship, the island itself, it all felt like one big mirage. This wasn’t the time for thinking though. Time awaited none of us, and I had better things to waste my time on.

“Well, there you are!” Doc welcomed. “I was beginning to get worried you cut class.”

“Well, either way it isn’t helping me.”

“Now, don’t think like that son. Soon enough we’ll all be off this island, either a prisoner or a victor.”

He pulled up a small bag of medical supplies, loading it delicately with a few new items.

“Now,” he began. “You’ll need one of these when you go in there.” He handed it over gently. “Consider it a gift from me. You remember how to use all this stuff right?”

“Yea, I think you practically drilled it into my head.”

“That’s how most people learn nowadays.” He dropped the sly attitude, and almost seemed to hesitate. “Sid, I hope you realize the gravity of your situation. You might never come out of there alive.”

“I’d hope not, you guys would still have a-“

“If you guys fail down there then it’s death for us too. There’s no easy option here. Well, for you there was.”

“What?”

“If we surrendered to that ship, you would have been set free. You’re not bound to this crew in any way, outside of word that is. Do you really take it that seriously?”

“It’s an oath,” I replied. “So I definitely have to.”

“Well, if I was in that bad of a situation I’d hightail it outta’ here.”

“What’s stopping you now?”

“Oh, this isn’t that bad. I get to stay in one place for a while.”

“Maybe not for long.” My fingers shook a bit from all the excitement.

“You want something for that?”

“No, I’m good. So, what am I learning tonight?”

“Nothing, you get an assignment rather.”

“Really?”

“Yes! I want you to get some rest, you’ll need all your strength tomorrow.”

“Well geez Doc, you getting sentimental or something?”

“Would you rather die down there?”

“I see your point. You’ll be okay right? I don’t want you dying on me.”

“I’m heading out about an hour before sunrise, so this is the last you’re seeing of me. If I do get captured, I’ll just pull the same trick I did with this crew.”

“You can damn well try old man!” With that, I left his old tent.

I made my last preparations, fixed up my spot for the night, and thought about my pick. In the end, I chose Timburr. I guess strength came from the ones I trusted. My only reason for picking him was familiarity, I wouldn’t have known what to do otherwise. He jumped on the offer, as I hoped he would. We made sure not to let doc know, I was certain he would object. I really didn’t see any other options besides him. 

I walked back to my little spot, a tent underneath a branch to cover me. I crept in, my body shaking for no good reason. I put my hands on my chest and felt my heart flutter every other minute. I closed my eyes.

Yet time kept moving. Time still moved. So I looked down to my hands, to see them shake on their own. I was tired of this way of living, the constant fear. Eventually with time I wouldn’t care, and I would fall asleep anyway.

 

\---

 

No matter what happened next, my hands would stay calm. That’s the promise I made to myself, as I stood at the entrance to that dungeon. Just like the aviation team reported, it was a large cavern in the side of the volcano. A few hundred feet in, it descended down into the dungeon below. There was just enough light to make out the drop as well. I made a promise no doubt, yet ever so slightly my fingers twitched.

“Is everyone ready?” Borat questioned. Even his voice showed nervousness, but he was still commanding enough to get a response. The group nodded in approval. “In that case, let’s go.”

We entered the cavern slowly. I looked back to see the outside world slowly shrink into a tiny bubble. We continued for another minute before turning on our lanterns for a light source. With a bit of agony in the pit of my stomach, I could finally see it. A few feet in front of us was a long and dark decent. It was set at an angle. If anyone lost their grip, they would tumble all the way down.

“Alright,” commanded Borat. “Let’s set up the belay and get ready to go down.” We double checked everything, made sure our device was set in place and wouldn’t come loose. The rope was tossed down before it came to a stop on the side of the steep drop. He was still hesitant to take the plunge, but he still volunteered to be the first down.

“Right, so how are we going to tackle this?” I asked.

“Well obviously we’ll be descending together, we can’t afford to split up in this condition. I’ll go down, and once it’s safe I’ll call back up to you.” He looked back to the entrance of the cave, then back at the looming darkness below. “There’s almost a glow down there.” He paused, before looking back at us. “Remember, just keep cool. It’s just a dungeon, just like any other. Stay silent and try to avoid fights, good luck.”

With that, he slowly slid down the rope. The further he descended, the faster his silhouette faded into black.

“Damn, he’s already gone!” Timurr exclaimed. “How are we gonna survive down there? We’re bound to loose each other!”

“Just keep your cool like he said. He’s still there, we just can’t see him.” I looked back to the other two behind me, to the Quilava in particular. “What’s with you? You’ve been awfully silent this entire time.”

“You kidding?” Timburr butted in. “She’s been that way since she got here!”

“Oh shut up! I’m just thinking is all!” Those were the first words I had heard from her in a year. “He said he noticed a glow, I can see it too! That means there’s some sort of light source down there.”

“Yea but that would…”

“If there’s a light source down there, why can’t we still see him?”

A sound began to echo back to us. Muffled and contorted, it rang back to us. Nevertheless, it was Borat’s signal.

“Screw this!” Timburr quaked. “I don’t wanna hear a bunch of conspiracies, let’s just get down there!”

“But what about that aura, or that mist that’s obviously down there? We can’t just jump in!” Skoro pleaded.

“Our boss is already down there! You two can sort that out, I just want to get this over with!” With that he descended the rope. Just like before, his silhouette slowly faded into the darkness below.

“Sid, we can’t do this!” She yelled.

“Damnit, we have no choice now!”

“My job wasn’t to jump into hell like some sort of goddamn madman!”

“Then what was your job?” She remained quiet as I interrogated her. “Now you can argue all you want, but you’re the only other fire-type outside of an old fucking man who’d break his hip falling down this ravine! And you damn well know that types like me and Borat would never survive down there on our own! You can argue all you want, but you’re following me whether you like it or not!”

Without another word, I grabbed onto the rope. I would never show it, but my heart was skipping beats. The worst part was sliding down with your back to the abyss. I slowly climbed down, just enough for me to still see her.

“C’mon then!” I called. She slowly grabbed a hold of the rope and climbed down to me. We continued down the cavern for a minute. Just like from the view above, the light from the surface disappeared into darkness. Almost every source of light was red-shifting.

“Just a warning Sid, if you or anyone else dies down here I won’t be responsible.”

I chuckled. “C’mon, a few burns shouldn’t hurt us, especially with the likes of you eh?”

“…”

“Right Skoro? Hello?”

There was no response. I climbed up a bit, to see that she was no longer there. I climbed back down to check behind me, nothing there either. I shook the rope upwards, hoping for some kind of response. Nothing came, no light or sound at all. I stood still, hoping I could hear something, anything from above me. There was no noise whatsoever, even the echoes all around me cancelled out. Only the sounds of my feet as they shuffled in the rock were noticeable.

I had no choice. There was still quite possibly someone above, and the rest of our group was trapped deeper. I inched my way down the rope. Each step now felt like a ten foot gap. My mind was fixated on whatever was below me. The darkness kept me from knowing just how far I was from solid ground.

After what had to be a few more minutes I hit it. I almost sprained my foot, thinking there was still more rock to descend. I carefully put both feet down, and looked up. Thick, black smoke clouded the air around me. I realized this was the substance that blinded us during our decent.

“Timburr! Borat!” I called.

No answer arose, so I proceeded. The long footsteps I took finally echoed on the walls around me. I approached what appeared to be a landmark, the already humongous cave expanded into a larger cavern. The floor below me was no longer rock and dirt, rather the remnants of magma that once flowed freely. My eyes burned from the smoke around me, but it never deprived me of breath. Eventually, my tired eyes became used to the billowy smoke, and looking around I realized I wasn’t even halfway through.

I now stood at the entrance to the mystery dungeon. The long black clouds had shrouded four smaller caverns. They split in different directions, but all faced the same way. This was soul crushing. Not only had our group split up due to mysterious forces, but now we were forced to proceed alone. We either took similar paths, or separate ones altogether. I walked into the far right passage. I prayed to the heavens above that someone had gone down this path, but it felt like there was too much rock above for them to be heard.

I stuck to the shadows, inching forward from floor to floor. We had finally confirmed the presence of wild pokemon, or at least what appeared to be the guards of this dungeon. Every time I heard one, I stayed still. Huddling against a darkened wall, I wouldn’t dare move a muscle. ‘Not one muscle,’ I repeated to myself. ‘Not a single muscle!’ They wouldn’t speak, nor did they convey any sort of teamwork. They were guards alright, but they had no more sense than your average beast.

With each step, I became more hopeless. The floors continued on for what seemed to be eternity. I became dreadful of hiding. Each floor of the endless cavern crushed more and more into my psyche. Just more pressure to my already throbbing head. My breathing became sporadic, almost whimpering at times. I felt like crawling, even lying down right there and hoping for death. I awaited death.

Why was I so nervous? I had been in these places before, plenty of times! I grew up with a guild team for god’s sake! What was blocking my mind? What was stopping me from proceeding? What was it, god damn it all what was it? Was it the ship, or the captain or crew? Was it the thought of my comrades below me? Was it-

Footsteps, I heard footsteps from the path behind me. Faster and faster, they moved faster than I could comprehend them. I stood up, my body trembling from the stress of it all. I felt them now, they were all around me. The footsteps blocked me into the long corridor I trapped myself in. Left or right, left or right? I ran to the left! The footsteps were as loud as ever, the air around me grew dense as I felt them get louder and louder. A roar echoed out, something was there! Something was following me!

I ran into a massive and empty room. The echoes finally made sense, they all came from behind me. I retreated into the cavern, only to hear more footsteps inside the room with me. This was no ordinary dungeon, every inch of it was smeared with the thick fog. There was no light whatsoever, and I wouldn’t dare turn on my lantern!

Whatever was in the room with me couldn’t see as well. I could feel it move around as I crawled on my hands and knees. It kept swinging the air around itself, trying to grab me with whatever appendages it had. I backed myself into a corner. I now felt the footsteps of my pursuer enter the room. I reached into my back as lightly as I could and brought out the small pistol I had packed for the trip. I hesitated, ‘It’s for emergencies only.’ ‘It’s for emergencies only,’ I kept repeating to myself. I took deep breaths. I was sure they would now give me away, but damn it all! ‘It’s for emergencies only,’ the message scratched itself in my mind. I shut my eyes as tight as I could, hoping I could adjust to the darkness for but a moment.

I repeated one final time, reassuring myself. ‘This is an emergency.’

I opened my eyes. I spotted the three figures in front of me, two to my right and something that flew to my left. The flying Pokémon was getting closer, it couldn’t see no better than I could. How could it sense me?

The fog clouded my vision again.

What was that thing? It was getting closer, I could anticipate it. I spun through all the situations, all the possibilities. I could sense it’s presence just a few feet away.

‘It’s a bat!’ I screamed in my head. I pulled my gun up and squeezed the trigger. The blast shook the air around me, the dust and debris flew away. For just a second I could see the bat in front of me. I shot it’s wing to smithereens! I lunged for the creature, tackling it to the ground and head-butting it. When it struggled no more I darted as far as I could. I saw the place where I stood get blasted to pieces from a purple haze.

There was no more running, no hope remained. I stood and fought to my death or I died trying. With the press of a switch I turned the lantern on. I looked on to see the other two stand there, a rock and dragon type. I reached for ammo, hoping to reload before they struck. They rushed towards me as I frantically loaded the gun. I screamed as I fired at the dragon. His massive appendages and raging fire were mere seconds away. The long, silver spike blasted forward. It struck the beast in its chest, digging itself as deep as it could, but it barely scratched the Pokémon.

It lunged for me, it’s weight pounded against me. I felt my bones shake and crack under the pressure as I was flung against the cavern’s wall. The beast lunged forward, attempting to pin me there permanently. I stretched my arm forward, materializing my leaves into whatever sharp form I could conjure up. It made no difference as the dragon crushed me against the rock. In that moment of desperation, I struck it’s side. It fell back in pain, inspecting it’s wound. The rock type lunged for me, and I defended myself from both of their life-ending attacks. I felt as if my lungs were collapsing, as each successful parry was only met with a crushing blow.

I screamed louder as I ran at the dragon. I only hoped to even my odds even by a little bit. I could feel every last detail of the battle. I felt the smoky air scratch against me, the blood drip from my wounds, and the heat from the beast’s mouth. I rushed into the beast will all the weight in my form. I almost broke bone as I tackled in to the ground. I struck my claws into it’s neck, squirming around to get a grip on it’s arteries. I stared it down in absolute madness as I absorbed as much of it’s energy as I could. It convulsed in pain, and very soon after in fear. When I knew I hit my limit, I stood up. The cold-blooded liquid spilled from my hands onto it’s victim. I shot up, a new energy rushing through my veins. I turned to the rock-type, already attempting to reassess it’s opponent. I lunged forward, slashing at the foe with all my might. I cut it to ribbons. From limb to limb my blade slashed away at the rock, until it writhed in pain no more and fell in defeat.

I stood back as I wheezed and shook. My blood was curdling, and the sounds all around me were drowned by the rhythmic thump of my heart. Still in a panic, I saw something in the corner of my eye. I turned alongside my leaf-blade to the intruder.

“Holy shit, its me! Calm down!” Skoro stood there, shocked just as much as I was. “I heard you and something else scream!” She sighed as I dropped the leaf, letting it morph back into it’s original shape.

“Damn,” was all I could say as I attempted to calm myself. “Where the hell did you go?”

“I could say the same about you! Did you leave me on that rope by myself?”

“This is not a good time,” I stuttered. Attempting to rub my eyes became a challenge, as my hand wouldn’t accept staying still.

She was taken aback, inspecting the damage to both the Pokémon and myself.

“Wow,” she exclaimed. “You’re really out of the groove of this aren’t you? Didn’t you work for some guild back on land?”

“Please, not now!” I screamed. I couldn’t take anymore, my head was pounding and I felt nauseous.

“Well, don’t worry. It’s not just you, I’ve been getting anxiety just being here. Can’t you hear the noise?”

“What noise?”

“The humming below us? Well then I guess it was just me, but that’s just it then isn’t it? If we couldn’t see each other on the rope, and if the Quartermaster and the tiny one weren’t waiting at the bottom, then that means-“

“There’s something terribly, terribly wrong with this place.” I butted.

“Right, its guarding a very powerful device. Let’s get moving by the way.” She handed me an Oren berry to lighten my wounds. “But it can’t go beyond it’s own rules, if we entered together then we are in the same layout.”

“And Borat?”

“They’re in another layout apparently.”

“I guess we’re on our own then.”

“Not really, you’ve got me here.” she reassured. “I know these places like the back of my hand. Plus, with the temperatures we’ll reach, this is practically my domain!”

“How far have we got left you suppose?”

“Well with the current temperature, lack of any burning or molten liquids. We’re not even close to the bottom.”

She was right. We had gone no more than a few floors down, and we were already feeling the psychological pressure below us. Within the hour we doubled the amount of floors descended. We started going down faster and faster. With her, I was able to keep my cool. I was able to actually hold my own in a fight.

We fought through countless waves of the mad pokemon. Damned as it was, no harm was done. Like all others of it’s kind, the dungeon was the greatest form of anomaly on the planet. Everyone goes in with the worst expectations, but comes out the least bit harmed. I bet your head could be ripped from it’s shoulders, but you would find yourself passed out in front of the entrance. All in exchange for the rarest items in your pockets.

Rare items spelled doom as it was. The further we went down, the more they appeared at random around us. The dungeon almost mocked us, leaving them surrounded by traps and resting pokemon. As we trekked further below, the harsher our conditions became. Eventually I too could hear the humming, and the atmosphere around us slowly light up. The air slowly became redshifted, and you could feel the heat rising off of yourself towards the ceiling.

I tried to keep a count, but after several hours of floors I just couldn’t keep track. Seventy-five was my best estimate, and I had a nagging suspicion that we were not even halfway through. Besides the never-ending floor pattern, I had a hard time keeping up with Skoro as it was. She was miles ahead of me, in both training and knowledge. She knew every aspect about the dungeon, from the ways the floors contorted to the magma and limestone that lined the caverns. There was no doubt about it, she was an explorer through and through. She had to have had some sort of connection to a guild, or some kind of experience with other adventurers. Despite her prowess, she couldn’t handle the place alone.

That’s where I came in, I was her back. She didn’t expect me to hold my own, not after what I had already fought. It was clear, the guardians of this place were at levels beyond what I could manage. If it took two to bring me down to size, then who knows what would have happened if a group of them ambushed us. Our luck went straight through the ceiling it seemed, because no matter what occurred we always kept the advantage. We hid alongside the shadows, exactly how the Quartermaster ordered us to. With this strategy, we had no more than a few engagements the entire way through.

The red light still disturbed me though. It seemed as if it was never ending, always growing brighter and thicker. The further we traveled, the faster the dust and smoke was replaced with the red aura.

The madness was unrelenting, with each step came difficulty. I could feel the pressure all around me as breathing became a chore. We were both sweating up a storm, and we realized just how much power the dungeon had over our minds. It became almost impossible to continue, almost like a mental block on our psyche.

Then all of a sudden, it was all empty. The atmosphere, the pressure, the immense dread and fear, it all left. I feared that I had gone mad, that I was the only one feeling this release. Luckily, she asked me about it before I could. We were certain that this was a sign that we were nearing the end of the dungeon. After seventy five floors, it seemed as if we had hit the bottom. Soon enough we approached a set of stairs leading downwards. As we descended, I could still see the red aura still around us. Without the dread, it was no longer threatening. It felt rather warm and inviting, lighting up our surroundings constantly.

With each step we took we fell into a long dark corridor. The warm, red aura no longer lingered around our bodies. It swerved and softened around our feet, almost rippling as we walked through it. The further we walked down the corridor, the lighter it became. To our surprise, a warm breeze began to whistle through the hallway. It echoed off whatever was ahead of us, creating a booming hum that invited us further in. As the wind swirled through that mysterious passage ahead, the pitch would resonate higher and lower, almost sounding like moans from otherworldly creatures.

With a few final steps we had reached the source of the noise. The every shrinking corridor lead out into a massive cavern. Long, thick lakes of molten rock and magma flowed all around us. The path that laid in front of us moved upwards, spiraling into the base of an even bigger cave. Every inch of that cavern was either rock or lava, and the ceiling had been strung with crystals that glowed as red as the sun. The moans that resonated with us no longer held any voice. Rather, as we stood there admiring the beauty, the winds moved and cut along the edges of the crystals. It moved through them smoothly, chipping away at their beauty and creating a hum that almost sounded like a horn. This magnificent sound moved around the room, as it moved further away it became lower pitched. As it swirled past, it grew in pitch, and almost formed notes all around us. 

Ahead of us, the path would split behind us with two other corridors. I made a guess that these were the other exits to the dungeon. We quickly set up a small base to rest at. Depending on where they were, if they were still here at all, it would be a few hours before the other two arrived. In the meantime, we cooked some food and set up a miniature tent. Because of the magma, the largest we could build it was just big enough for one Pokémon to squeeze through. There was just enough legroom to get comfortable.

Skoro offered me the tent first, after giving me a funny look that is. She insisted, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep in a place like this. So I sat there, eating a bowl of some concoction of vegetables and stew, knowing that I probably wouldn’t hold it down. I needed to eat though, I couldn’t keep myself up without some form of nutrients. My muscles let out a spasm every so often, a signal that my body could not keep going. Just sitting there made me hurt, but I wouldn’t dare move. So I sat still, watching all around me, almost hypnotized by the surroundings, lulled by the humming winds.

Then, a noise! Footsteps could be heard from the passageway to my right. It took me a moment, slowly the sounds crept unnaturally into my left ear. Yet staring down the long black corridor, I couldn’t see anyone. My head began to pulse once more. My aching bones knew I had to move though. Through all the complaining that ran through my head in just a few moments, I stood up quite easily. I still hurt, but I just managed to pull myself over to Skoro’s tent. I woke her, telling her about the noise. At this point she could definitely hear it too, and we both prepared for the enviable. I drew my leaves as a sword, bringing it up to head’s length. I leaned against the wall, preparing to strike whoever it was that wandered far too close. All the while my mind felt like it was being torn in two.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I lowered my weapon. It was Borat and Timburr, one limping on the weight of the other. I couldn’t make out who was who, nor did I care. I just drew a blank every time I tried to think of anything. I tossed my makeshift sword to the side, walking back to our little encampment. Without feeling a thing, I dropped to the floor. Sizing up the ceiling, I prepared to stay there for all eternity. What had just gone on in the last few days? I was no longer sound of mind or body. I felt pushed to my limits as a Pokémon, yet I remained intact. Something kept me intact, I just didn’t know what or why.

“Are you going to help me you fucker?” Borat leered over me. His thick, long black claws were stained red. I couldn’t make out anything else. “One of those bastards bit at my leg! Good thing it’s still intact, although I’ll will admit you’re looking a lot worse.”

“I don’t care, just let me have a look at it.” In a half-hearted attempt to fix his leg, I forgot what the issue was in the first place. After admitting this, Borat had no patience in telling me he’d seek the help of someone else.

“You sure you’re ok?”

I looked up for a moment. Fearing that I had been doing it for too long, I gave a dissatisfied shrug.

“Well, when’s the last time you slept?”

“I don’t know, sometime before we left here. Like you and the rest did. I got beaten up a quarter of the way through, maybe it’s something with that.”

“Well no wonder, you’ve been on your feet this entire time.” He reached into his bag, taking out what I made out to be two small fruits or seeds. “Here, take these. You might be shit with medicine right now, but I think we’ll need a fighter in a short while. The first one is an Oren Berry, you should know what that does already. The other one is a Chesto, that should keep your head in the game for a little while longer.”

“Any side effects?”

“Just think of it like coffee.”

I didn’t know what coffee was, I never had it before. From what I ate I presumed the substance he spoke about would be the same way. In any case, my expectations fooled me. I took a big bite, taking in the fruit for all it’s terrible bitterness. Certainly, it was a taste to get used to. But as I laid there, tuning out the conversation behind me, I could feel the fruit’s effects on me already. I didn’t perk back to life straight away, rather, I started to think more. I thought a bit too much, I thought back to what Borat had told me just minutes ago. ‘When’s the last time you slept?’

I admitted to myself that I never truly got any noteworthy sleep. I kept awake far too long in nervousness and agony. What I did get wasn’t sufficient. I realized that the dread and the fear never quite left me, they stayed in many other forms. Perhaps they could traverse time itself, to torment me far before I would ever meet them face to face. Down here there was no hope. Even with the beautiful caverns all around us, nothing could escape this seventy floor hellhole. Not a single sound would penetrate the surface, and with one wrong move, we would be stuck until we suffocated or died of hunger.  

I took a good long look at myself in the reflection of a bottle I carried. I could just barely make out the thick black eyelids I had obtained. It didn’t matter anymore, my appearance no longer reflected who I was. I was weak and tired, but some sort of drug kept me going. I thought about the fruit I just ate, about it’s effect on Pokémon. There had to have been some mix, some concoction of sorts that gave me this replacement for energy. It didn’t feel like renewed energy, it felt different. My mind just, stopped itself from giving in, I kept going. As long as I kept thinking I stayed awake, and whatever was in the fruit made me want to think even more. It subsidized me, kept me numb.

I waited there for a while longer, taking in nothing. The noise, the feelings, none of it mattered. As I stared into that overbearing ceiling, with its crystals that shined and reflected off the hell below us, I felt peaceful; blissful almost. I wanted to stay like this, I wanted to put a finish to the endless work.

“Alright Sid,” the Quartermaster called to me. “We can’t rest right now, get up.” He leered over me, shaking me visually from that long silence.

“Why, aren’t we safe here?” I bargained.

“Yes, but lest you forget: we have a mission.” He put an emphasis in his words, demanding attention. Pointing to the pathway ahead, he continued. “We’re just a few feet from our finish line, we can rest on the surface.”

The pathway split, diverging into two separate roads. They crashed into the sides of the cavern, moving the pathways along the sides. It was eerily natural yet artificial. The rock looked like it was formed eons ago, yet it curved parallel to its counterpart. Something that could only be built had been replicated in nature. Naturally, we found it best to stick together along one of the pathways. I curled up as it had presented itself. It continued down the wall, forcing us down a long shaft into the center of a much wider cavern.

But this was no cavern. The wind blew against us gently, it flew up from the impenetrable depths. Light began to impair our view, not the reddish tint from before, but raw sunlight. Peering up, I could see an opening hundreds of feet above us. The natural exit to a volcano! The dungeon had lead us down through countless layers of floors, leading us right into the heart of the island itself! The heart of danger I might add. For each moment I stood there I feared the thing would erupt, leaving our little team of explorers to our doom. I dared myself to look down, and in an absence of thought I did. The magma dropped like a waterfall down into the depths of a lake of fire. It was hundreds, if not a thousand feet below us. I could see now, why my skin burned, why the air was thick and disruptive. The heat from the lake below shot up through the caverns, moving like wind all around us and creating the vivid sounds.

Skoro had to draw me back, telling me it wasn’t such a good idea to get so close to the edge. Something even greater captivated our minds quite quickly. The other two were eager to point it out. Our small pathway quickly cut to the right. It met its twin at the center, creating a platform in the middle of the volcano. A floating island awaited us in the center, and with it, the Terra Cymbals

We all stood there in fear of what would come next. What would dare happen if we touched it, if we even laid eyes on it? We were mere feet away from one of the most powerful objects in the world, yet none of us could take a step further. Everyone except me, in that moment I challenged myself. I took the plunge. With one firm step after the next I approached the instrument. Anything could happen at the very moment I touched it, but I fixated on it, studied it.

I was the first to glance at such an object up close in over a decade. Just looking at it from there stirred history, stirred the records in my favor. Was I committing a sin here, fulfilling what the Captain so desperately wanted, to be remembered? I didn’t think we would be remembered for what we would do with them.

These thoughts and more raced through me, and with each movement I felt closer to it. My hands reached out, practically feeling the metal when I was still inches away from it. At the very last moment I hesitated, my hands shaking a little. Then I grasped it. I held the object in my hand, its beauty wearing off in my sight. It was the anticipation that stirred me, in reality they were no more than cymbals with ancient sigils drawn on. I stashed the first in my bag, and picked up the second one without the same adrenaline.

Then I could hear a noise, not like footsteps or a monster stirring. It was a call, my name if I focused hard enough. It came from my right, my blind spot so it seemed. I turned to face them, still unable to hear. It put me on edge, the blood pounding once more in my brain. I looked to Skoro, her lips emulating words I knew but couldn’t put in perspective. I studied her closely, the words sporadically came to mind as I read those lips.

The lake is rising.

I looked over the edge and saw the lake of hellfire shifting quickly up the column. It began to slow all around us, sitting quite peacefully once again as it settled right below the platforms we stood on. I looked in eagerness to my companions, hoping they had also remained untouched. Luckily no harm had come to them yet, but they began to spread out. As if anticipating something, a universal code that shot through all of them. I couldn’t quite get the signal yet I supposed, but a shockwave of chills went through me as I continued to hold the second cymbal in my hands. A voice demanded presence from the fire around us. But there was no sound, no concept of words or text. The voice, just existed. It rang not through waves but through the mind, not through text or visuals but through thought. It was as if the tiny voices in our heads that repeated our memories and deepest thoughts had vanished, in more relevant terms, had been replaced. This voice boomed from that spot in my mind, and demanded the attention it deserved.

‘Who dares disturb the resting place of what once began the surface? What has sparked life into a place where life did not dare to thrive so long ago? Have there not been warnings, of fire and brimstone. Of what would come from eons ago if stirred. I speak no more, mere words cannot stop the force that lies within your hands.’

Within that final word, it stopped. My head appeared to be normal again. Yet the sea of magma rose, a being shot up faster than I could react to it. My reflexes moved me to jump. I fell backwards as I looked up. It towered over me, a Groudon! It outgrew everyone in our party tenfold, still growing evermore. It looked at me, the greatest sense of fear in my life had arrived. I looked back at it, eye to eye. The Legendary creator of the very ground we stood on looked down at me in anger. I had desecrated this place, my hands touched what no mere Pokémon should. I gave up in that moment, my mind surrendered against my will to the awestriking power of the master of the ground I sat upon. I watched as it began to lunge its mouth, preparing flames that would seek my destruction. Its overbearing size brought weight and sluggishness to its movements. It didn’t feel slow, it all felt too fast. My life would end too fast. I would die too fast, gone too fast. My mind raced at the aspect of those tiny words. My mind would stop racing too fast.

“Run you bastard, run!” Screamed Skoro. She was braver than I it seemed. She grabbed my arm, pulling me as far as she could to the right. I felt her pull against my weight, against my will to go on no more. Was this tiredness? No! Something had stirred my mind, that very same voice perhaps! She pulled at me harder, pulling me towards reality. I scrambled up with a newfound sense of life. I ran for my life, I desperately wanted to live. This time I knew the feeling was real, because rather than calmness I felt calamity.

We dived for cover that never existed. The long pathways were the only thing in a reasonable distance. I could feel the flames lapping at me, burning me almost. I panicked as I saw them flare all around us. They engulfed us, lapping all around us. Yet I couldn’t feel a thing. Besides my back, not a single piece of me was burnt. Just a few more feet and they faded away. I turned to face the beast, its figure shrunk as it breathed in. There was something to it I just couldn’t grasp. Something stuck out and I didn’t have the time nor the intuition to find out. I scanned the room for the other two. Borat was still limping, but stood defensively in front of Timburr. His eyes met mine, and he turned to yell.

“Get ready! We’re making cover!”

Timburr grabbed the floor all around him. Using his natural talents, he pulled up a piece of rock from the floor and flung it on his shoulder. They ran in zigzags, avoiding the Legendry’s flames. The same anomaly was present again. The flames engulfed them, but they emerged unharmed. Immediately after, Timburr flung the rock above him. It crashed against the volcanic cylinder, sending rocks and ash tumbling towards us.

I lunged for one of the boulders, my legs carrying me swiftly to its center. I huddled against it, with Skoro to my left as we waited for any sort of attack. Sure enough, the rock we hid behind cracked in two. Immediately I rushed for another. It had reached its limit with our games. With no remorse, it smashed and battered the rocks we hid behind. I ran to new set of cover as we fired at it with anything we had on us. Muskets, rocks, razor-sharp leaves, nothing could penetrate its thick hull. It towered above us, and there was no hope that we would come out of this engagement alive. Skoro had ran as far as she could to my left, and in its fury the beast turned to focus on her.

I huddled against another rock. As desperately as I wanted to help her, I was limping and out of breath. I had pushed myself too far, and as I leaned against my wobbly piece of cover I could only watch as the three of them attempted to take it down. I saw Borat and Timburr talk for a moment. Then, reaching into their bags, they brought out flintlock muskets. They were tiny little things, but had enough punch to send a Charizard flying. Borat grabbed a handful of what appeared to be silver spikes, dropping a handful into his ally’s hands. He got his gunpowder ready, he loaded his gun. This was it! That bullet was made of the best metal on the planet, if it couldn’t penetrate that thing’s armor then it was all over. He took a long deep breath, aiming his sights as far up as he could keep his arms without failing. He was going to hit it square in the back of its head.

The gun fired, its excruciatingly loud bang was amplified as it echoed off the walls of the chamber. Nothing, once again our attacks could do nothing. I could feel something churn inside me as I watched the Legendary turn to face the two of them once more. A familiar feeling crept in my head. The voice spoke again, this time it made its presence known.

‘Fools! I will not let technology destroy what was made long before your age! Your defeat is at hand, give up while you can and I will spare you.’

I could feel the familiar dread drift into my head. I knew what would come next though, I wouldn’t allow myself to drift so carelessly into defeat again. Skoro was still attempting to get its attention to no avail. It stayed focused on the other two near me. It lunged for them, just as it had before. What happened next could have been nothing but the supernatural. Skoro couldn’t have seen, and neither could the duo behind their cover, but I saw it with my own eyes! It’s long, clawed hand rushed towards the boulder they hid behind, and it stayed there for longer than what was normal. Because of physics, its hand would have to lurch back from the impact. But it stayed there, longer than a second at most. The fist clipped through the rock, as if it were made of air. Within that short period of time, the rock split in two.

“Now!” Borat screamed. “At it’s head!”

Timburr emerged, hurling a bolder no bigger than himself at the giant’s head. As soon as it was out of his hands, he ran for cover. He screamed curses at the monster before cowering behind the rock and staying quiet. They couldn’t see it, but it was the impossible at work! The boulder had passed straight through the beast, hitting the wall behind it.

I sat back, my head against the cold rock. It was clear now. The pieces drew themselves together. The fire, that strange attack with it’s arm, the never ending tingling in my skin, even the floors of the dungeon that weighed so heavily on us. I just needed one last confirmation, one final piece of evidence. I looked to the sky, which should have been in the evening around then. Sure enough, the sun hung over the volcano’s opening as if it was noon. It shined two times brighter than it’s normal self. That was not the sun, in my years of travel I knew one thing about this phenomenon. It was a move set, a skill; Sunny Day is what some would call it. That’s where it’s power came from, and why the air was so thick and humid. My skin was burning from something that wasn’t even there, and from a move I was fond of too. The Legendary conjured up an impressive illusion. Although the Pokémon appeared to only control rock and fire, it could somehow muster up power against the mind. If I wasn’t watching it would have gotten away with that trick for who knows how long.

In truth, nothing could have grown as large as that. Nature would simply not allow it. The attacks that went right through it, the fire that didn’t reach as far as it should have, I had an idea of what it all meant. I ran as far as my breath could still allow me. I slid onto the rock that Borat hid behind.

“You alright?” His raspy voice asked.

“The…creature,” I puffed. “It’s…not that big!” Our rock was split open once again, forcing us to move.

“Speak clearly!” he demanded.

“The body…it’s not real, an illusion.”

He put the pieces together, same way I did. He turned to Timburr, who was still throwing rocks from far away.

“The body!” Borat yelled. His voice cracked as he put all his energy into his voice. “Throw lower, at the lower body!”

He ran out of cover, aiming for the lower half of the massive body. He hesitated for a moment, as the Legendary turned to him and spat fire once more. As it approached him, he took one final look, before throwing the boulder with all his might.

It was different now. The beast stumbled back, the object had clearly hit him now. It’s form shrunk a bit, not too visible but clearly enough.

We could hear Timburr grunting from behind cover. He was hit dead on with most of the fire. He mustered a yell, “Did it hit?”

“Yes!” Borat cheered. “Skoro, can you make some fire?”

“I think so.” She called from the other side of the room.

“Hit it with all you got, I’ll cover with the musket!” He grabbed my shoulder, “Go make sure he’s alright!”

It took me a bit, suddenly I could feel my muscles ache again. I ran, each step becoming more painful than the last. I finally stumbled next to Timburr. He was clutching the area around his heart, and many patches of his skin were notably burnt.

“You alright?” I lazily asked.

“I got fucking burnt!” He screamed. “What does it look like to you?”

His frustration spoke volumes to me, as I struggled to take out the right medicine and bandages. I reached for a Rawst berry, lacking the grip to keep it steady.

“Fuck is wrong with you?” he asked. I could only look at him in desperation. I don’t know what he thought of me, but he became a little more sympathetic. He reached for my hand, placing the berry in my palm. He gripped my wrist as hard as he could, squeezing it until it stood still. “Right,” was all he could say. He drew my hand close to his chest, to the point on his heart where the skin was already a crisp black. “Squeeze it a little,” he whimpered. I did as he asked, and I felt the juice run onto my fingers.

He grunted a mixture of pain and relief as I rubbed it over his charred skin. His grip became heavier, my hand throbbed from the pressure. He let out a cry that it was enough, and he let go. My hand shook harder as I lurched back, grabbing for the bandages at the bottom of my bag. He swore a few times as I wrapped it around him tightly. He held onto it, helping me make it as snug as possible.

“Thanks,” he calmly replied. “I think I owe you for that one.” 

“I need help over here!” Borat yelled. It seems our little escapade was cut short as our opponent was already overpowering the other two. They did do a number on it though. It was evident even from such a distance that the Legendary had already shrunk a quarter’s worth of its original size. This did not stop it my any means. As it shrunk it became more agitated, and its attacks grew in size and frequency.

“I need some cover!” He yelped once more. Massive bellows of fire pinned him down. This time the opponent’s attack was unrelenting. Fire almost incinerated half of the room.

I reached for my bag, looking for anything to help. I had three blast seeds, enough power to blow a wall through a brick building. “You have any seeds?” I yelled.

“I have a stun seed!” Skoro replied.

“I want you to throw it on three!”

“Ready!”

“One, two, three!” On three, I pushed ahead. I ran as hard as I could towards the Groudon. I could see the seed spiral through the air, before letting out a flash that was brighter than the sun. I winced as my vision became blurry, I had no choice but to continue forward. I gripped each seed, breaking them in half and throwing them at the creature. I had a few seconds to run. Would I make it? I think I went mad from the adrenaline. There was no rock in sight. What now?

I dropped to the floor, trying to make myself as flat as possible. This time I didn’t have the courage to look back, I knew the Legendary was looking right at me. I begged for mercy, a few of my pleads coming out as whispers. I felt fire, then a boom.

I couldn’t hesitate. I got up as my right ear began to throb again. My legs felt twisted and bruised, half of my mind was not working, and I couldn’t stop shaking. Yet I kept pushing, this would be my resting place otherwise. The Groudon had now growled in pain. Its illusion of a bright sun had dissipated, and its form began to ripple and fade away. What was once fifty feet shrunk to ten. What began as an impossible foe had turned into another formidable opponent. I wondered what might happen if too many pokemon found what I had. How quickly would the Legendry’s powers be exploited?

The voice called out once more. It was no longer a threat to my sanity, at this point I expected it.

‘So, you have discovered my secret. Very well, if you desire this fight so much then you have earned it.’

Although small in nature, its power grew evermore. The liquid below it instantly cooled to a solid rock, it could now move freely to attack. It charged at us with all its might, preparing its final strikes before one side fell in defeat. I don’t know how long the final moments of the battle had lasted. They became a blur to me, as I moved and attacked quicker and harder than before. There was a newfound energy in knowing that it was no taller than us combined. Borat and I had worn out our usefulness, our weakness forced us to rely on Skoro and Timburr. The Legendry’s attacks reigned supreme, and with no Revive seeds our battle continued on and on. There would be no return at this point. We would either defeat it, or our mission would fail. I struck alongside Timburr, by blades moving in sync with his moves. The Groudon became weary as it was struck from all sides. With unrelenting attacks, we brought it down hit after hit. Its power grew weaker. The lava that bubbled up all around us began to sink back to the lake. With one final roar, the Legendary stumbled back to its origin. The ground beneath it cracked, and it fell down into the pit it ascended from.

The voice was merely a whisper now, the bottled up rage and distinction had left. It spoke softly, almost defeated.

‘You are a formidable opponent. Leave this place forever, and I shall not peruse you.’

As I peered over the edge, watching it splash against the magma as if it was lava, one final message stirred in my head. I don’t think the rest of my team could hear it anymore.

‘In evil or good, my treasure will follow you.’

A warm hand touched my should gently, pulling me aside.

“Are you okay?” Skoro asked. Her worried wrinkles turned to a light smile. “Was that it?” she asked.

There was silence all around. The monotone hum of the caverns began once more, growing louder and louder.

“Was that really Groudon?” she asked again. “I remember the expeditions from decades ago, when that floating lake was explored. The Groudon that protected it was just an illusion. Is that…what we fought here?” She looked around. The others were panting, too exhausted to speak. She turned to me again, “Show me the Cymbals!”

I took them out of my bag, still unharmed from the battle. They still resonated a warm glow, notably showing the power contained within them. Just what power though? What could these musical instruments do?

“It had to be, couldn’t it?” She asked one final time. Still no response came from the others. We seemed to sit there, forever. For an eternity I sat there, her gentle hands holding me up. I felt like passing out right there. The mission was over, I had won.

The ground began to shake, the cavern rumbled all around us. For a moment I thought it was my spasms again, but peering down into the lake revealed that the magma was slowly rising once more.

“It’s erupting!” were the only words to escape Borat’s mouth.

With desperation they all took off to the encampment. I did not want to continue on, my body gave in to the volcanoes bestial demands.

“C’mon! You bastard!” Skoro screamed. The rumbling and shaking had muffled her voice, but her body still showed action. She picked me up by my shoulders, leading me off the platform. It began to crumble beneath our feet, with each step we feared to drop into the lake below. She began to sprint, with me still locked into her arms. I kept my feet moving, trying my best to keep up with her demands to go faster. We reached the spot where our encampment once stood. Hardened magma had overtaken our equipment, swept it away to disintegrate below. The crystals above our head began to crack and dissolve. They crashed and broke like plates as they hit the ground. Their beauty erased in a mere instant.

“It’s not just an eruption,” Timburr shuttered. “The cavern, the dungeon, its caving in!”

“This way!” The Quartermaster commanded. He lead us down one of the caverns we exited from.

Timburr sprinted far ahead of Borat, already covering half of the distance between us. All I could see of him was his body climbing as fast as it could up the stairs. I could feel the rock caving in behind us. Had he abandoned us?

“The right is a dead end!” Timburr yelled as we reached the stairs. He hadn’t given up on us yet. “Turn left, then a right after that!” He ran back into the entrance before us. What was once a sprawling dungeon had been crushed into a maze of hallways and openings. As we followed his instructions he ventured out even further, surveying our escape ahead. “Another right!” he called out. “Then two lefts!”

The ground began to shake harder, with each vibration becoming more and more like a wave of some sorts. An earthquake had begun and we were trapped in the middle of it!

“Its caving in!” Timburr screamed in terror. “Turn right, turn right! I’ll open an entrance!”

Borat turned to us, the rubble crumbling above our heads. “Give me the cymbals,” he demanded. “Give me the cymbals!” he growled once more. His voice became hoarse and threatening. “Finish the mission goddamnit! Give me the-“

The air felt unbreathable, or was it just me? The last thing I saw was the ceiling coming down.


	6. Hopelessness

He sat in the sand with his one arm open.

A hopeless desperation filled him as he bled.

He had surrendered.

 

**Chapter Six: Hopelessness**

I moved my feet, jiggled them around for a bit. There was something underneath me, I just couldn’t see it. It took the force of a thousand levies to move my head down, and I saw what had captivated my feet. It was grass, it bended against me as a warm breeze pushed against it. There was some sense of an aura to this place, some semblance of reality. I remembered this place in a strange sort of way. It was foreign, but at the same time it felt familiar and friendly. Time and space seemed to contort itself here, as it took decades to move yet seconds to think. I took a step, and a hundred years past. A few more, and two or three hundred had passed yet again. A beach made itself known underneath me, as suddenly the grass made way for sand that bubbled up from the ground. I looked ahead to see nothing, there was no horizon in sight. The sea stretched on for infinity. A nonexistent sun cast it’s rays onto me, its warm embrace reminded me of a sunset. Yet I could see no sun, no bright light illuminated the last moments before night, and no red was painted onto the sky. The blue had been erased away. The cosmos, the stars, and the objects that made up the night sky declared themselves the masters of my vision. It felt complete, almost meditative. To look left and right was too make self-reflection, and to look up and down was to visualize the past and the future. All pasts made themselves clear here, and all futures found a home. All the different versions of myself, the many paths I could have took, lined up one by one. The past didn’t feel so regretful, and the future was without worry.

And then I woke up.

My starry sky became rock, and my warm breeze was heat that emanated from the floor. The air all around me creaked with the sounds of rock shifting. The rumbling continued faintly, a remnant of the earthquake that shook these caverns. My reality was a small, dark cave. The only light in existence came from a lantern that sat far away from me. The dream was still relevant, but my surroundings forced it back into memory, to be lost forever.

 I sat up, and a familiar face popped into view. A Pokémon sat next to me, and although I couldn’t make out her details, I knew it was the Quilava I was with during the escape. Immediately, my brain kicked into action. The memories of our journey, the escape through the dungeon, the sudden stop, they all came back to me. Yet, as I moved myself against the wall, a familiar hand touched me. It was relaxing, as they felt me all over. It stirred away the panic that would have enveloped me.

In truth, she was just checking me for bruises and injuries. I was still lightheaded, and her indifferent touch just reminded me of someone else. I panicked for a moment, I realized where we were and what had happened. It was Skoro no doubt, and we were trapped in a cave-in.

I hesitated, not fully knowing whether reality had set in or not. With a groan I asked, “What happened?”

“A rock fell on your head,” she replied. “And well, we’re trapped here.” She moved her attention to my scalp as she continued to bandage my head. “You took a hit that I thought would kill you. Luckily I had some supplies to stop the bleeding. You feel light headed, nauseated? If not then good, you haven’t got a concussion.”

I strained to speak. “Did I…did I give him the cymbals?”

“Who, Borat? No, the cave collapsed as he was speaking. You didn’t have a chance to even think about it. Which is why we’re stuck here, we failed the mission.”

“You seem…calm, about that.”

She didn’t respond.

My sense of taste came back, and I tasted copper. “Water,” I begged. “I need water.”

She reached for my bag, taking out a small canteen that was stashed away for the expedition. I gulped down half of it, before realizing she had dropped her belongings somewhere along the way. I offered the rest to her. She hesitantly took it, and realizing just how thirsty she was, drank what remained.

“For a while,” she started between breaths. “I tried clawing my way out of here. You’ve been out for two hours or so, I only stopped trying half an hour ago I think. No matter how much I dig, there’s nothing on the other side. The cavern, the dungeon, it’s all gone.”

“What about the others?” I asked. “Timbur and Borat?”

“They’r either in the same spot as us, or they made it out. Even if they were trapped like us, I’m sure that little bugger digs better than I can.”

“Timburr’s smart, he can manage himself.”

“Yea well either way, I think it’s a brave thing he tried to do, going ahead of us. I think he saved the Quartermaster’s life.”

“Borat?”

“Yes, Borat. Just how much brain damage did you get from that hit?”

“Not enough, I can still remember you.”

“Well ha-ha,” she replied sarcastically. “You’re stuck with me forever now!” Her smile faded. “Yea, you’re stuck with me now…”

She became silent, and as much as I wanted to reassure her, I couldn’t muster up the courage. Her words spoke truth, in a way I didn’t want them to. This would be our final resting spot, our lives would end in a small hallway of rock and ash. She sat adjacent to me, on the neighboring wall to my left. I hoped to console her by moving closer. I sat as close as I could, but she just kept her head down. With no hope to offer her, I just followed suit.

“Is this what you expected?” she began.

“What?”

“Is this what you expected?” she repeated. “After all this, a year or so at sea, did you expect it all to end right here, like this?”

“Well no, I didn’t. But I don’t think anyone does. We all expect to go down with the ship, right?”

“Maybe, but I never saw myself like that.”

“What, you never thought you could die out at sea?”

She shook her head. “No, I never did. I always expected it to last like any other job. This wasn’t supposed to be a permanent solution for me you know, I always thought down the line that I could make a career change.” She paused to remind herself of those memories. “That ship, the Crouse, she’s seen her fair share of combat. So after a while it just feels impenetrable. We always get into fights and come out without hardly any scratches, and that just adds to that feeling. That is, until you find yourself at your weak spot, and it all comes crashing down on you.”

She paused before laughing, “You know, the only time I ever felt sort of anxious was when we were so close to port”

“Yea,” I replied. “You know, it’s just that feeling that something will go wrong. I had it too.”

“I guess that’s when we’re the most vulnerable. We were low on food, ammo, maybe morale too. If something were to happen to us, then at that moment we wouldn’t be ready for it. But I don’t know, its just a thought.”

“Well, even if we did get caught by surprise, we would have the Captain.”

She laughed. “Now how could that work?”

“Well, he’s sort of smart, courageous, and cunning sometimes.”

“God, you are so attached to him. What do you even see in him?”

“I don’t know. I will admit for your sake though, he can be a hardhead.”

“How much, most of the time or all of it?” she snickered.

“Hell if I know, but somehow he’s luckier when he’s stupider.” I joked.

She tried to contain her snorts. “You remember when he got upset over that huge mess in the parlor, or when someone put a blast seed in the crew’s toilet?”

“Yea?” I giggled.

“That was Timburr!” She couldn’t contain it anymore, the cavern echoed with her howls of laughter. “Yea,” she continued, calming down a little. “For all the time I spend in my quarters, I did get to see a lot of you guys and your little moments.”

“Why did you spend so much time there?”

‘Well…” She seemed hesitant to press the conversation further, something stopped her from continuing. “You remember how you joined the crew?” she asked, hoping to shift the conversation away.

“Yea, if it wasn’t for your help I would have probably sank along with that ship!”

“Well on occasion, I’m supposed to act like a normal crewmember. You know, blend in and all that. It was part of the deal with guard-work. So that’s why I was there, and if I wasn’t…well you know what would happen.”

“Then why did you bargain for me?”

“You seemed innocent I guess. I don’t know, but every other prisoner these kinda ships take look like they’ve seen their fair share of this sort of thing. Battles and violence at sea I mean. You on the other hand, you didn’t know where the hell you were or what you had gotten yourself into.”

I thought over that before saying, “I had a friend there, on the ship. I don’t know what we would have done if we weren’t raided. I never knew what happened to him though, whether he’s alive or dead.”

“What’d he look like?”

“A Totodile, or a Scrafty, which was it? I can’t remember anymore.”

“Well, I don’t remember seeing either of those. I’m…I’m sorry Sid.”

“Its fine, I think I’m better off here anyways. I hardly even knew the guy.”

“Well,” she hesitatingly continued. “I just hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“What do you mean?”

“You made an oath to the Captain if you remember. Whether you keep that or not, that’s not my place. But if you keep it, then you’re stuck here forever.” She corrected herself, “Um, well you would be.” She held her tongue before asking, “Would you be okay with that?”

“I don’t know,” I responded. “Don’t look at me like that, I really don’t!” She was surprised to say the least, that I didn’t feel anything. “What about you then, would you?”

“I’d hope so, I didn’t really have anything going for me before.”

“Weren’t you a bodyguard, you were hired for that right?”

“Well…Yes, I was,” yet again she was held aback from speaking. “But you know on the ship I’ve been held to secrecy, and I’m given a lot of paperwork to deal with. Managing the crew’s pay is just a side thing though, I’m paid extra but-“

“No,” I interjected. “I don’t mean that, weren’t you a bodyguard before the ship? That’s why you were hired wasn’t it?”

“…Yes, but it’s complicated.”

“We have all the time in the world now, I don’t mind.”

She didn’t respond, but she darted her eyes around as she thought.

“I won’t judge you,” I reassured.

 “Right,” she sighed. “I Um, I was from the Coalburner region. I used to be a guard for a storage place. Caravan rest stop, storage area, that sort of thing was what we did. I’m not talking small fry storage like a Kangaskhan business. It was much bigger, huge things were stored there! Artifacts, big expensive stuff, you name it. Bigger or wider than five feet and we stored it.”

“What was it like?”

“The job?”

“No,” I inquired. “The Kingdom.”

“Oh, well it’s never really been a kingdom.”

I gave her a puzzling look.

“Yea,” she continued. “You have to remember, the whole ‘nation’ thing didn’t start until a decade ago. I wasn’t very old when it started, so I never really understood what was going on. The tribes and the little towns around that area just got along very well. Then, they just started a treaty or something and there you go, country. The southern tip is a paradise for Pokémon like me, fire-types I mean. It’s just volcano and rock, like this place but a bit tamer. To the north is forest and grasslands, a small desert, snowy mountains. Our little piece of land there could habitat anyone! Go northwest, and right at the tip of where the peninsula begins, there’s a mountain range. That’s where the kingdom ends.”

“Where were you?”

“Coal Harbor, named for its old export. On a map its right inside the curve of the peninsula, and it sits between where the grassland and volcanoes meet. It’s the most tropical place you could ever see on a mainland. I remember learning in school that long ago, the place was the mining capital of the Air Continent. Right at the middle were miles upon miles of coal mines. So on either side of the city, you’d have beautiful, tropical places to live. The closer you got to the center though, and the city would be more grimy and disgusting.”

“Well, not anymore,” she corrected. “That was ages ago. At least double or triple my age. No, the city’s a lot cleaner than the story’s will tell you. The coal ran out there, so all the businesses shut down. Now the city is at least two times smaller, I think a little bit better for the environment. It’s just a Pokémon hub now, a plaza for the entire peninsula. Anyone you’ve met from that region has seen the city.”

“So it’s like Treasure Town?”

“Maybe, but not as foreign or far away. Like I said, it’s the hub of the peninsula. You’ll never see anyone from outside visit the city that often. Just how separate it is from everything. A foreigner in that city is sometimes like a celebrity. The traders mostly stay low and avoid attention because of that. So that’s where I was, a guard watching a merchant’s goods when he went on a run. Yea, a guard…”

“So how’d you end up on a privateering ship?”

She took a second to answer, swallowing a little. I assumed she was just getting thirsty again. “If you’re getting tired we don’t have to continue.”

“No, no I need to do this.” She took a long sigh, and continued. “I was on shift, and a crew of thieves showed up. They jumped the fence, we caught them in the act, and I…killed one of them.”

“What?”

“Well I mean I don’t know of course. They hauled him off to a doctor after I was done with him, but I don’t know if he lived or not. I assume he’s dead, mostly because it’s the reason I lost my job. I don’t feel any emotion towards it at all. I just didn’t know him, so I did what I had to do to survive.”

“So you feel nothing, no remorse, nothing at all?”

“Nope. I never knew him, it’s the people I get close to that would be tough for me. Which is why I was always so distant-“ She stopped herself short. “I ended up in a bar on the other side of the continent. I didn’t feel like staying in that city with so many memories attached. The Captain showed up, looking for me. I don’t know how he found out about me or what I did, but he hired me over that. So that’s my job now. Just stay low until the time is right…”

“But I’m afraid I’ve said too much,” she concluded. “Now it’s your turn!”

“What?”

“That’s right, I didn’t spill my guts just for you to listen. I’m not dying here until I know your side of the story.”

“Oh no trust me,” I hesitated. “You don’t want to hear it.”

“Oh yes I do!”

“I can’t, it’s just as complicated as yours.”

 “Oh…” She seemed disappointed. “If you want, you can just tell me a little bit. You know, little pieces of it.”

“Fine, at least you won’t pester me in death. Now where would you like me to start?”

“Anywhere, your pick.”

“Right, well I guess I moved to Treasure Town. I grew up in Guild’s Bay.”

“Where? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Oh, it’s just a little colony town. Mud and rock, nothing fancy. Last time I was there was three years ago…” I stopped talking, concentrating on that little town of mine.

She picked up on that quick. “Well alright, let’s skim over that. You said Treasure Town right?”

“Right, I moved there. Took me a while, I saw plenty of other roads and cities. Shaymin Village was nice, although I liked the view from Capim Town.”

“Your stalling!”

“What?”

“I can tell when people are stalling Sid!”

“Ok, well I went from my town to Treasure Town. You already know I worked with the guild for some time back in my hometown, so I decided to apply for the real thing. Load of rubbish it was. The place was jam-packed, couldn’t even breathe in there. The Guildmaster, or whoever is in charge now, just looked me over for a minute and kicked me out the door! So for a while, I was homeless. I slept on rooftops here and there, before I got a job at a café.”

She laughed. “You? Sid, the over glorified floor scrubber, started at a coffee shop?”

“Why do you think I’m so good at scrubbing the floor?” I tried to lighten the mood, I honestly did. I could make her smile, but my story became graver to myself. “And no, not coffee, I don’t even know what that is. It was a fruit café, I mixed fruit for people to drink.”

“Ah,” she interjected. “So you got bored of it, and jumped on a ship?”

“No, I…” The words became stuck in my throat. “I…”

“What then?”

“I met the love of my life.”

“Oh…” Her cocksure attitude turned into a frown. She bowed her head, regretting something along the way. “I’m sorry, I definitely pushed you into this.”

“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter anymore. Besides, I gotta let go of it huh? I’m stuck here…” If my own words didn’t carry any meaning to myself, then they certainly didn’t to her. So we just sat for a long, long time. Without words to muffle it, the cavern emitted its own echo. The rumbling continued in the distance, and the world around us spun with a low hum. I began to feel nervous. Nothing was more prevalent than our own demise, which was certain enough. I understood with each passing minute we consumed up the oxygen in the room, and I knew there would eventually be a point where we would faint from the lack of air.

“She was…interesting, I suppose.” I forced myself to continue. “She was a Braixen, a little timid and shy but nonetheless sweet.”

“If I can ask…”

“Go ahead.”

“How did you two meet?”

“Well we were coworkers.”

She made motions with her hands. “Yea but how did you two…you know, make that connection?”

It was blurry. “I don’t remember.” I choked up. “I forgot, all of it, it’s just gone. All I know is there was a beach, and we had some sort of connection. She told me something, and I just felt something there. For the life of me, I can’t remember.”

She made an attempt to comfort me, albeit through continuation. “Well, can you remember what happened to her?”

“Yea,” I pressed myself onwards. “She found out I was homeless.” I laughed through a little heartache, “I was sleeping on the rooftop right next to her place. So she just leant me a place to stay, practically forced me to go with her. I don’t know why, but she opened her heart to me. We never kissed, never made much physical contact, but goddamn did she know me. I just can’t describe it, it was almost spiritual, and I ran.”

“Huh?”

I didn’t answer her, and for a long time I just sat silently. She never Spoke up about it, so I assumed that was all she needed to know. Something stirred in me, some form of clarity or peace in that hellish place.

“That wasn’t the first time,” I began. My voice was raspy, and I mumbled through some of the words, but she heard it well enough. It brought her back to attention, and I continued whether she was listening or not. “There was someone I liked in my hometown, a girl on the exploration team there. We got along well, and as I worked there I made that sort of connection with her. But I got scared, I just couldn’t see myself getting closer. That part scared me. So that’s why I jumped on going to Treasure Town. Along the way in the towns I stopped at, I met a few Pokémon, the kind that I could eventually call friends. I got scared of getting close to them, so I just focused on Treasure Town again. At this point I can hardly remember them. I’m just afraid to get close to people.”

It was true for the most part. My hopes and dreams drifted as I wandered from town to town. I couldn’t dare open myself up, not to anyone, or anything, or anywhere. There was something about me I could never quite grasp; something that stopped me from continuing what I started, what I wanted to finish. It left what I had created always half-assed. I couldn’t control it, this unprecedented, undefinable sense of fear. It was only on The Crouse Explorer that I felt it no longer, perhaps because of my involuntary shackles to the ship.

This is the first I’ve ever really written about it. I’ve attempted to leave it out of this, but I guess the truth had to eventually be revealed.

It no longer bubbled, it boiled a hot steamy mess inside me. I hesitated to continue, only to pause for a long time before continuing. “But with Brisa, I had that ‘true’ connection. I can’t describe it, but it made me feel like all the other times I screwed up were fine, that it all just lead to her. I felt this peace with her, it put a stop to all the regret and the fear. I just felt happy with her.”

“So, what then?” Skoro asked with a bit of sorrow in her voice.

“I lied to her. I made an excuse to throw away my money, to run and hop on a ship sailing anywhere. I sailed with that guy I was talking about, the Totodile or whatever. The rest is what you already know.”

She didn’t talk or try and comfort me, I guess she really didn’t know what to say. She finally spoke hesitantly, “Well, maybe its fine.”

“What do you mean?”

“You already know about those connections we make. That’s what makes us who we are, Pokémon. We have souls, we want to be loved and to be important to someone. Sometimes that doesn’t work out, but maybe there’s a reason for that. Like you and Brisa, maybe it just wasn’t supposed to be.”

“I guess so…”

“And in terms of running, you’ve done plenty to counter that! You’ve kept your vow to the Captain, even when you had the chance to run at port. I bet that you didn’t even think about it a single time.”

“You’re right actually, I didn’t”

“Well there you go! You did it Sid, you kept your word into death!” She realized what she had just said, and hurried to quiet herself. “I’m sorry Sid, I pushed you too far.”

“It’s okay, I needed to get it off my chest.”

She got the attention of my hand, placing her fingers in mine. She looked at me eye to eye. “No! I’m sorry Sid, about everything.”

I panicked again, I felt as if I could sense the air left in the room. I knew it was just my mind, but I felt suffocated. I was content, was I not? Yet there was something that continued to stir, to rage inside me. Some conceited part of me wanted to find a way out. It had to be the same part of me that still longed for her, that stopped me from surrendering to the defeated soul that sat next to me.

I jumped up. “No!” I screamed. “Not now, it can’t end yet!”

“Sid please calm-“

“No! Goddamnit there has to be something! Goddamnit!” I continued to scream and curse at the heavens, as I tried to craft up some sort of escape. “My bag! There has to be something in my bag!” I felt like I was going insane. The minutes that had passed by, all the effort put into relaxing and accepting this fate had gone to waste in a matter of seconds. I wouldn’t give up, that was my final instinct! My final act in this life was to cling onto it!

“Revive seeds, blast, stun, damn it no!” I screamed out once more, taking in all the rage I could muster. “Not a single thing in this useless piece of rag! All that’s left is-“

Sparks immediately ran through my entire form. I felt enlightenment that only gods could describe. I formed a smile, no, a grin! I formed a big, fat, cocky grin right across my face. All this hope and aspiration that cropped up could only be described in the two words I spoke to her. “The cymbals!”

Shaking them loose from the bag, I held them in both my hands. I understood it now, their power was hidden in their music. I took the risk, and bashed them together with all my might. The walls around me clattered and shook, the rock slowly dissolved off the cavern that withheld me.

“My god!” she laughed. “You’ve done it!”

I ran to the wall that had first crushed me. Bashing the cymbals, I created a luscious, humming sound. The wall crumbled into dust, extending it a few inches forward. I banged them again, this time while moving towards it. As I pushed forward, the wall dissolved as fast as I moved. I looked over to her in exasperation, before enacting the greatest achievement of my life.

I took off running, banging the cymbals as hard and fast as I could. I dug a tunnel leading upwards. With each stroke of my hand I dissolved matter, with each musical note I pushed the very planet away from me.

‘Not yet!’ was the only thought that ran through my head. This was my second chance. I didn’t have to give in. I didn’t have to surrender to myself! ‘It’s all in the past now,’ what rubbish! I buried it all again, the anguish, the guilt. This was my moment, the moment I would take back this fragile life of mine and carve it into a legend. I was the first to touch this item in over a lifetime, and I was now the first to use its power. Up and up I climbed, further and further towards the surface. All things could be erased, even my past. I had hoped Skoro had forgotten about it the same way I had, and to my surprise she did. The calm demeanor she carried to her demise turned into a joy that she was still alive. I could feel the heat dissipate around me. I could feel the ground become lighter around me. I could feel it! The surface!

I broke through one final bit of rock. An intense light enveloped me, the brightest light I have ever seen. It was the sun no doubt. We had survived the night, and made it out at mid-morning. I turned around immediately, feeling the ground move again. Almost instantaneously, the cavern I had carved out reassembled itself. Every little spec of rock put itself back where it belonged. 

We laid there, gasping for as much sea-air as we could hold.

“You did it!” she whispered in excitement. “You clever bastard, you did it!”

I could have screamed that as hard as I could. I attempted to it, getting up on my knees to yell out my achievement. Before the first syllable left my mouth I covered it with my claws as fast as I could.

In the distance there stood a platoon of crewmembers. Even from that far away I could make out that they were not our own. They carried large chest plates made of iron and bronze, and long muskets that looked as accurate as the ones that shot at me before. I darted up, grabbing her by her arm and dragging her along with me. I dived into the foliage, sending her barreling in after me.

“You lucky bastard!” she continued to whisper, raising her voice. “You did it!”

“Shut up, look!” I pointed to the troops in the distance. Immediately she understood our new predicament.

I took no hesitation in moving up, with Skoro unwillingly following. I moved between the trees and the bushes, making my way stealthily towards the foothills that were the closest to the mysterious crew. Sure enough, they were the soldiers from before. Only this time, they were more readily equipped. There were only a dozen of them at my position. They were inspecting the entrance to the dungeon we had just come from. I took a quick look at their armor, most likely made of pure steel. No musket ball on the planet could penetrate that.

The dozen split themselves into three groups of four, with one of the four carrying some large scaffolding equipment. One team after the other, they embarked into the cavern.

“My god,” Skoro whispered. “They’re walking right into the same trap we did!”

“We can’t stop them,” I whispered back. “Whether we like it or not they’ll just fire on us when they get the chance. There’s no hope for them.”

“Is the dungeon even there anymore?”

That was something I didn’t bother answering for her. I waited for as long as possible, anticipating the moment when all three teams had descended into the dungeon. Their personalities shined brightly, even from the distance I was at. They were all cocky, so sure that they were just walking into a casual pursuit. Something, no, someone had told them we embarked into the dungeon, and luckily they still thought we were down there.

I watched as the last squadron moved into the cavern, then waited five minutes to make sure they had taken the plunge. I crawled out of the jungle, watching to see if they were still there. The coast was clear to scavenge what was left of their makeshift campfire. They had left a bit of food, and a box of ammo.

“Cmon!” I called to Skoro. I ran for the ammo box, grabbing it and darting back into the trees. I ran as far as I could. My body still ached from our previous trek, but I was able to keep myself upright compared to earlier. Even with all my aches and pains, I felt like I could run for miles. That is, until a musket barrel poked out from the bushes ahead of me.

 

“Freeze!” called the unknown figure, as loud as it could whisper. “You move and I’ll shoot!”

On the second whisper, I instantly recognized the voice. “Timburr it’s me, Sid! Skoro’s further behind so don’t shoot!”

The barrel lowered, and the small Pokémon’s head peaked out. His face sported the widest grin I had ever seen, and almost immediately he forgot to keep his voice down. “Man, you son of a bitch!” He reached out for a handshake. “We thought you were dead! How the hell did you get out?”

“The cymbals!” I replied. “I figured out how they work, or at least, part of it.” I took a second to catch my breath, catching wind of my surroundings. “There’s something awfully strange about what’s going on.”

“Yea, no kidding! There’s a ship that’s been circling the island since we got out! They sent some row boats here but we haven’t seen or heard anything about them since.”

“But that’s just it,” I replied. “I just saw a dozen of them walk into the dungeon!”

“Shit, this isn’t good. Here,” he said, handing me his musket. “A bit too heavy for me if I’m honest. I’ll take you to the quartermaster, now c’mon!”

He guided us through the thick brush and foliage. The thick jungle of tropical trees and bush slowed us down immensely, but it was better than staying in the open with those soldiers patrolling around. For all we knew, they hadn’t done their homework. For them, the island was just one out of a hundred, and they had no idea that it was uninhabited. He walked us through one final thicket. Which was a string of bushes pulled up from their roots and placed artificially around a small clearing.

In the middle sat the Quartermaster. He sat with his legs crossed, leaning against a tree. It bended with his weight, looking as if it would fall at any moment. In his lap sat a set of maps, which he carefully looked over. They were the same maps from before, the ones he left in his tent. He had laid them all around him, looking over and editing each of them carefully with information from the last. He was extremely intelligent no doubt. He had mapped out the entire island in detail, five times in fact. He put them aside for a moment, looking up almost robotically. Sighing, he looked like he was just expecting another report from Timburr. His expression changed as his jaw dropped.

“My god, you made it out!” It almost seemed like he repeated Timburr word for word.

Timburr boasted before I could. “Yup! Found them near the entrance! They brought…” He stopped pointing at the metal box I was carrying. “Uh, what’s that?”

“Ammo,” I answered. “They left it at their campsite. Seeing as how they left it there, I assumed they-“

“What campsite?” Borat interrupted.

I guess I got caught up in all the excitement and forgot. “There’s a dozen troops who just entered the dungeon an hour ago. They set up camp right outside the cave.”

“Damnit, what do they think they’re gonna find down there? Is the dungeon even there anymore?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then how did you get out?”

“The Cymbals, I figured out what they can do. We got stuck in that cave in, and drilled ourselves out with those things.”

“Can I see them? The cymbals.” He shook nervously as I handed him the delicate instrument. “So this is what we went down there for?” He became puzzled as he put them in both hands. “What do they do?”

“Well, as far as I know right now. They dig, or produce waves, something like that. I just clashed them together and the ground disappeared. It can do that incredibly fast though, a tunnel at least two times bigger than you!”

He held the two in his hands, ready to make a demonstration of sorts. “I…shouldn’t be doing this should I?” He was quick to give them back to me after I shook my head. “Put them in a bag, and make sure they don’t touch.”

I looked him over solemnly as I put them away. “So what now?”

“Well this changes everything!” he exclaimed hopefully. “I was basing my whole plan around the fact that you two never made it out, but now that that’s over-“

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. “Did you tell Doc any of this?” I winced at the thought.

“Well, yes. He’s been my line of communication with the other half of the island. But like you’ve probably noticed he doesn’t know about your return! I’ll get on that right away.”

“Yea, you do that…”

“But anyway, I had originally based the plan around holding out as long as we could here. The plan was to just keep in hiding until we devised something a bit more complicated. This is good though! Now we can skip straight to an assault!”

“Are you sure that an assault is the best of plans?”

“Well, not straight away of course,” he corrected, returning to his papers. “We need to get the entire team making traps and ambushes, hiding holes, trip-wire traps, you name it. I’ll get the aviation team to tell the other groups, and they can figure out where to place theirs.”

“How are they doing?”

“Avionics? Fine, the enemy’s probably mistaking them for passerby mail-birds.”

“So then, what’s the plan for us?”

He looked over his maps for a few minutes, mumbling to himself and correcting mistakes. “Well, if we’re going off this new plan of ours, then it’s obvious that we’re going to need to make our own traps. We’re isolated as well of course, I made sure of that to keep everything low. Only other pokemon here with me is Timburr, who I sent out to look for you guys. One last try to find you I guess, but it worked!”

“What happened to our old campsite, with the tents and all that? Where does that leave Doc’s team without a medical base?”

“Everything’s been either scrapped for parts, or buried and marked. Absolutely no traces of our presence should be shown, nothing whatsoever. Even if they already know we’re here. As for Doc, well he’s in charge of the medical team. They’ll stay mobile to tend to injuries when they happen.”

“Alright, we’ve got this all down. Or just you, whatever you call it. What’s my next step particularly?”

“Well, I guess you’ll be part of trench duty. Since you seem to be the less wounded of us all.”

“What?” I realized all too soon that my cuts and bruises had become somewhat invisible at this point. My time spent knocked out in the caverns must have given my body some time to rest. Even so, the thought of having to work some more made me ache and shake a little. I kept myself looking fine though, I’d follow any command to the mark.

“Sid, Sid! Snap out of it, I lost you there. Don’t get all traumatized on me.”

“Huh?”

“I said, you’re gonna go dig some ditches over at the walkways to our south. That way, some teams of our own can go ambush those bastards.” He looked me over, puzzled at my current complex. “I’ll give you a piece of paper, the details as to where some tools were hid. Now I gotta get the aviation team down here, go do what you have to do. You two, go rest or something.” With that, he let out a bird like whistle, and within moments I recognized the small crewmember that had answered the call.

I didn’t try to argue, I was in no position to. The Quartermaster was busy enough giving commands to the bird Pokémon, and it was clear who was really in charge. ‘Was it that obvious?’ I thought to myself as I walked to where the paper told me to go. Was I really so weak that I wasn’t capable of handling a little bit of leadership? Even without the captain around, who so often demanded that he was the final word of authority, I was still being bossed around. By someone who was supposed to be my equal no less! I began to envy those around me, the ones who could stay still and rest. Hell, I didn’t even put up a fight. All I did was take it like a servant, just obeying my orders without giving a damn. Is this what I’d been reduced to, digging around in the dirt for tools? It didn’t matter anyway, I had already found the spot. The paper read, ‘two trees almost touching with red flowers around their roots,” so I was standing in the right place. The tools were easy to find, I practically ripped them out from the ground. I had a pickaxe and a shovel, both equally important for taking out my back.  

I approached what would be my workspace. It was a stretch of dirt, almost like a road, that curved it’s way back to the shore. The forest bent the grass and dirt around it upward, creating a natural hill on either side. If there was going to be an ambush here, then it would start on these hills, with our own crew looking down on whoever approached. So I started there. I dug and I dug, through dirt and granite. Oh how I wished I had trained in digging, Pokémon with that move could dig those holes ten times faster than I could. Instead, I was stuck doing it manually. With each hit my body shook and sweated. The hot, midmorning sun glared down upon me.

In some form or another, I became angry or irritated. I thought back to the caverns below, to the somber moments when the Quartermaster spoke to me.

I remembered everything, word for word. “Lest you forget we have a mission, we can rest on the surface.” What a load of crap. I hit the earth harder and harder, taking everything out on it. I bashed at it until it became a fine powdery dust, and spat it out of the hole with a shovel. I was finished. I had dug a hole, one out of who knows how many.

I knew wholeheartedly about this place now, the ship, the crew. It was a trap, a boyish plan to get rid of me, to squander myself and my youth. I knew this already, from the depths of my heart, and from the depths of those catacombs. “I hope you can come to terms with where you are now,” she had told me. I was here for life, I had better make the most of it. So I did, by digging another hole.

I was so tired of it, tired of it all. I wholeheartedly regretted my actions leading up to here, a hole in the dirt. I should have died back on that trading ship, at least I would have been at peace. I had squandered my opportunities, I ran like I always had.

I dug some more.

I had ran away from everything, the guild, my father, my love. This was my life now, a shovel in one hand and a weapon in the other. Shoveling shit, shoveling dirt, shoveling everything I could get my hands on. What came after trenches, mines, traps, graves?

I dug even further.

Each lunge of the shovel fueled my anger, and quenched it at the same time.  Further and further I went, with each pail’s worth of dirt I felt compete. This was my life now, might as well make the most of it no? Like she had said, I was trapped, I was a slave, but at least I could be happy. This was my life now, not an adventurer like her or a stout leader like the Quartermaster, but a sailor shoveling dirt. I was the sailor shoveling dirt, I was a sailor in the dirt. More like the slave in the dirt, the slave stuck in the dirt.

One more hole finished, now another, and another. How many more, a hundred, a thousand? No retirement, no rest or ease of living. I would dig until the day I died. But at least I was satisfied. At least I was happy, shoveling my own dirt, my own shit.

I almost accepted it, this disillusioned reality I had created for myself, if it weren’t for the sound of a familiar set of feet.

“You dumbass,” a familiar voice chuckled. I looked up to see Timburr walking towards me, with two canteens strapped around his shoulders and the same set of tools in his hands. “You forgot to bring some water,” he continued to laugh. “Two hours in and I’d thought you’d be passed out. Lucky you!”

To my embarrassment I had forgotten water. I was so caught up in my own frustration, I had forgotten to even take care of myself. I could do nothing but smile in lighthearted shame as he tossed me a canteen. After taking a swig I asked him, “What are you doing here?”

“Eh, I got bored of waiting around. Besides, you helped me out down there, it’d be unfair not to help you.” He took his tools and got to work on digging a trench.

“Well thanks, I appreciate it.”

“Well duh!” he smiled. “You would have probably died of thirst if I hadn’t shown up.”

“Damnit!” I yelled, stifling laughter. “Will you let that go?”

“Never! Not as long as she’s around too!”

I turned around to see Skoro approaching as well, with the same set of tools we had taken.

“I’d figure you two would need another hand,” she said. She started digging to the opposite of me. “So Timburr, when are you going to tell him?”

“Tell him what?” he asked back.

“What hydration means.”

“Oh shut up!” I laughed. The afternoon switched from a chore to a pleasant time in a matter of minutes. My cold thoughts dissipated as fast as they had come.

“Ugh! This is tedious!” Timburr complained. “Why can’t we use those cymbals of yours Sid?”

“Well, do you want a trench or a crater?” I queried sarcastically.

“So that’s what they do, just dig a large hole?”

“Well, I guess. That’s the only part I’ve seen of them though, and I’m sure there’s more to it than meets the eye.”

“Don’t kid yourself,” Skoro interrupted. “Timburr would have used them anyway.”

“Screw you!” he shot back.

What would have taken a day’s worth of my time was only an hour with their help, with each minute filled with jokes and playful jabs at each other. In no time our job was finished. With Skoro digging a few more holes on the other side of the path, and Timburr rearranging the rock to look natural again, we had created the perfect ambush.

“Well what now?” Timburr asked. “Should we go do some more?”

“Are you sure?” I pondered in return. “You guys up for that?”

Skoro replied for the both of them, “Sure! I got enough energy for a few more.”

With that, I whistled the same tune the Quartermaster had back at base. A different bird approached, a bit larger than the other, but otherwise still part of the aviation team.

“Tell the Quartermaster we’ve finished the holes. We’re moving to the east to find another spot.”

The bird nodded, and sprung back into the air. Within moments it retreated with swiftness back to Borat’s hiding spot, invisible to the naked eye with the sun in the way. We picked up our tools and our water, and walked to the east.

‘Perhaps this wasn’t so bad,’ was the thought that went through my mind. Maybe this was fine, being on the ship, the cabin boy who was fit for any role. For so long I felt nothing but loneliness and emptiness in what I did, involuntarily springing at any opportunity from the Captain. Perhaps I was content. With these two at my side, I felt something I hadn’t felt in years: comradery, friendship even. For all my mistakes, all the things I regretted, maybe I was supposed to be here.

We continued to dig, moving from area to area until the evening came. That night at the hiding spot, we could all hear the occasional musket fire from the encampments. Either the enemy crew had spotted our crewmembers’ locations, or our ambushes had worked. No matter the case, the fire was drowned out by the conversations between us. The three of us talked about anything, everything! We became so loud that Borat insisted that if we couldn’t keep quiet there, that we should find another spot to spend the night. So we did. We found a resting place between two trees that shielded us from view. We continued to talk amongst ourselves. Subjects like our opinions of other crewmembers, rants about the living quarters, and our past lives moved like butter. I felt at ease talking about my past with these two, opening up for the first time in a decade. I didn’t even think about it at the time, that was just how enjoyable it was to talk with them. I could still make out details about the other two, and I’m sure they could do the same with me. I noticed the small little lies Timburr inserted into his past. From the conversations I had with Doc, I knew he was still hesitant to talk about his family. I could notice the nervousness in Skoro too, something I found comfort in. None of this mattered though. We were united in our flaws, in our continued and joyous evening. We would never have a moment like this for a while. If we ever did find our way back to our normal routine of privateering, we would only have glimpses of it. Small little moments and hints of friendship would be as far as the ship would allow us to go. In and between our rough schedules we could find comfort in each other. This was the start of it all, just sitting here under a tree.

As nighttime grew longer, our little party died down. The entire weeks’ worth of emotion and work weighed heavily on us. Although the night was still young, we were nowhere near restlessness. The thought of sleep was almost heavenly. I looked away for a moment, as me and Skoro reminisced over our escape from the volcanic dungeon.

“Yea,” I continued groggily. “You never did hear how we escaped, did you Timburr?” He didn’t answer. I turned to see him slumbering peacefully, his cheek resting against the tree opposite of me.

Skoro was quick to whisper to me. “Oh my goodness, he looks adorable like that!” We both snickered like kids at how stupidly cute he looked. “Well, I think he can guess for himself how we did it.”

I leaned back against the tree. “Yea, I find it kinda funny how easy that was. You remember how eager we were, to just give up and vent?”

“Yes,” she replied, pulling herself against the tree to my left. “That doesn’t matter though. I mean, it wasn’t even a ‘we,’ it was you. You got me out of there alive Sid, thank you.” She smiled at me. I didn’t even notice it, but she drew a little closer.

The night moved on for a short while, with neither of us able to find sleep as fast as Timburr. For me, it was started to get colder. I couldn’t find rest as I started to shiver.

I looked over to her, “Damn, it’s just getting colder by the minute!”

“I don’t know, I don’t feel anything wrong.”

“Yea well, I’m not warm blooded like you guys.”

Her eyes lit up mysteriously, “Oh yea! You being all reptile-like.”

“Well maybe it’s just-“ Before I could finish, she had already put her arms around me. The glow from her body was immense. I knew she was a fire-type, but it surprised me just how warm she was. I became flustered as she moved herself into my lap to get comfortable. “Y-you don’t have to do this you know…”

“Yea well, consider this payment for saving me back there.” She tried to sound confident, but I could make out the embarrassment in her voice. “Maybe this could-“ Somehow, she couldn’t continue, her voice getting caught somewhere as she looked at me.

She was inches away, and at this point I couldn’t say no to that face. Her warm fur, the cute little sparks that shined off her back, her red, shining little eyes; they were all so inviting, so welcoming. I realized she wasn’t nervous, but she was anticipating something. We were both red as can be, but without warning she fixed that.

She pressed her lips to mine violently, shocking me down to my core. I cannot express the emotion that went through me, that immaculate passion. I kissed her back, our eyes shut, mouths dripping from each other’s warm passion. I longed for her, as she put her arms around my head, cradling it. I moved my hands all around her body. Her thick fur encaptivated me, before she finally pulled herself off me.

“Sorry,” she said nervously, her hot breath entering my lungs. I had no choice but to kiss her back, moving my hands over her head. “Enough!” she giggled. “I wanna catch some sleep.”

“O-okay,” I reluctantly said.

Though she never let go, putting her arms tightly around my neck and burying herself in me. A silent breath drew from her, before she uttered something she couldn’t find a way to finish. “I…”

I put my arms around her in comfort, and whispered a finale to her. “Goodnight…” Within a minute she was fast asleep, breathing rhythmically to the beat of my chest.

In that moment I became wide awake, and a feeling of regret swept over me. A pain dug it’s way from my head down through my entire body, physically shocking me. I felt like I would have a heart attack. All those thoughts from before, the comradery, the friendship, it was all bullshit. I had betrayed someone very close to me in this somber moment, yet there was no way out of this hole I had dug. So I had to wait there, with this feeling creeping around inside me, until I would drift to sleep from tiredness.

In truth, it was probably the last remnants of emotion I carried for Brisa. It raged a war inside of me, its last desperate attempt to get my attention, just before it would die a swallowing death forevermore.


	7. Our Own Little War

There was nothing of him now.

He was just a shell of the captain he used to be. 

A rank he had dishonored.

 

**Chapter 7: Our Own Little War.**

I stirred awake unnaturally. Not tired or rested, just sudden. Out in the brush, something made itself known. Looking down, I saw the figure that still slept with me. My hands still rested on her warm fur, and a rhythmical breath fell on my neck every few seconds. I don’t know how, but I couldn’t face this the same way. What felt like passion before had switched to regret overnight, but at the same time I yearned for this physical attention. Needless to say, I was just confused.

The sound dragged me out of thought once again. A figure showed itself from the bushes. Its shadowed figure watched me, it seemed to need my attention. I couldn’t make out just who the figure was, but I knew it was friendly. If I was going to die he would have attacked a lot sooner. I rolled Skoro’s body gently away from me, setting her down next to the tree. I hated to leave them both like this, but one way or another, one crisis or the next, duty called. In one final moment, I turned back to watch them before I left. Timburr still leaned against the tree, and Skoro rolled herself into a ball. They both remained so peaceful, a sight that I didn’t even see on The Crouse. Whatever the shadow wanted, it would once again drag me away from where I wanted to stay. With that thought still etched in my mind, I made my way through the bush.

Borat stood no more than a few more feet ahead, with a pipe in his mouth and a morbid disposition. The pipe was something I hadn’t seen in ages, I tried to remember if he used to smoke at all. I’m sure anyone would need something to relieve themselves, especially in a position like his. Maybe this was that one little moment, that thing at least once a year where you’re absolutely alone. This was the chance for him to vent I suppose, to relive a year’s worth of stress. Yet it manifested itself evermore on his face. Long, droopy eyelids and bloodshot eyes told a decent enough story. He hadn’t slept for a while, probably less than me. I could tell with every little nervous shake he would make. Something had kept him up the entire night, maybe just a thought or whatever military drama had been going on around the island. He didn’t make any noise outside of his heavy puffs, not even a grunt or a murmur. He started to walk, expecting me to follow. We retreated towards his hideout, which was a good number of minutes away.

“I hope I didn’t disturb you guys,” he finally spoke. “Especially you and…I won’t approve of it, but it’s your thing.” He paused before saying, “Something has come up, I’ll explain it at the camp.”

Nothing else was spoken on the way there. Was he mad, disappointed? What irked him about me and Skoro? I doubted he understood the situation decently enough. Then again, neither did I. Yet either in awkwardness or respect, we continued through the forest. Not a sound emerged from the nature around us, no chirping of bugs or birds. Only the wind made its presence known on the island. It was awfully eerie just how unnatural the place was. Yet I didn’t linger long with that, my mind drew blanks as I blurred out every so often. Had I gotten enough sleep? I recounted the night. If I had gone to bed with her three hours before midnight, then I only had four hours of sleep. Four hours, not even enough to walk properly.

Simply thinking about it made me tired as I entered his small encampment. His maps were still strewn about, albeit with different marks and plans than before. It seemed as if he almost went mad overnight, planning out every little opportunity we could afford.

“I doubt either of us slept much, but you can blame this little ordeal for it. I’ll make you some coffee.”

“Coffee?” I didn’t know what that was. In fact, outside of our voyages, I had never even heard of the word before.

“Yes, coffee. You’ve never heard of it?” He brought out a small container, a canteen of sorts. “Long ago, when humans were more…prevalent I suppose, my parents learned how to make it.” He took a few Chesto berries and squeezed the juice into the container. “It was a drink they made using a certain nut, one that doesn’t even exist in our world. Yet just like everything else they told, we tried to make it ourselves.”

He was right in some ways. The pipe he smoked, the granulate drink he just made, and the muskets that we carried had all stemmed from ideas passed on from common myths. The tobacco he smoked, for example, wasn’t the same plant talked about in legend. No such plant grew anywhere in the world. Yet through these stories, Pokémon tried to recreate what little they knew from human ‘history.’ No one truly knows whether any of this is real, or just as they are, myths.

“Normally I’d give you the choice on what kind of seeds you want, but I’m giving you something a bit specific for what you’re about to do.” With that he took out a small bowl and a few seeds, and began to mash them into as fine of a powder he could make them. I could only sit and watch as he meticulously put the shavings into the canteen, shaking the bottle as quickly as he could. The concoction fizzed violently in the bottle, the noise muffled by the heavy metal that contained the liquid. He poured the mixture into a small cup, and handed it to me.

“This is coffee?” I asked.

“Well, as best as we can replicate it.”

I took a sip of the cold drink, almost wanting to spit it out instantly. It was tremendously bitter, but I found myself chugging it down forcefully. Within minutes I started to feel alert, and my vision seemed to adjust to the darkness a lot better than it had before.

“What was in that?” I pondered. The drink had now given me some sort of anxiety.

“Chesto berries as you saw, and some Eyedrop seeds. It will help you see in the dark, see things you wouldn’t normally pay attention to. Explorers use it all the time, although it’s hard to get your hands on sometimes.” He took a long sigh, hesitant to continue whatever plan he had thought up. “That’s where you come in. This is our only chance to take back the ship.” He got up, and motioned for me to walk with him.

“The holes you dug yesterday helped a lot,” he continued. “As did the others the rest of the crew dug. We’ve been using them for ambushes all night, and they’ve worked to a great effect. We’ve taken their numbers down by at least twenty now.”

“Is that a big number?”

“For a ship’s crew, yes. That’s about how many would operate a row of cannons. We’ve caught someone though, a prisoner who’s at the right place at the right time. That’s what the drink was for, and the waking up in the middle of the night. I want you to impersonate him.”

“Wait, I’m sorry what? You want me to impersonate one of their guards?”

“Even better, a Grovyle. He was with a squad of them on the west side. Unlike the others, these guys surrendered immediately. You’ll impersonate him as best you can, then get aboard their ship.”

“The ship? How would I go about sneaking into that rat’s nest?”

“There are two ships that have been circling the island, a large capital ship and a battalion one that’s half the size. They have The Crouse as well of course, so we can’t just go running in after it. The smaller ship has docked to the shoreline though, and it took The Crouse with it. So this is the perfect chance to get everything back, maybe even their ship too.”

“Why would they dock to the shore?”

“Well to get more men ashore, to come after us. But I know for a fact that they’re still preparing. So this is our only chance. You need to talk to the Captain. We need some sort of communication, what they’re planning, their equipment, strategy, anything! He’s a smart guy, he’ll have overheard everything! But Sid there’s no choice in this matter. I know you’re an equal on this field for now, but I am ordering you to do this.”

My heart was pumping as hard as it could, but I was still able to speak. “Okay, I’ll do it.” Something in my head persuaded me to accept the offer, even if I was being forced or not.

“I’m going to go get the other two, and get them to the south patrol. You meet up with Doc, he’ll be in charge of the situation.”

I gulped as I continued to the north, my stomach leaping in all directions. I knew I would eventually be meeting up with the Doc, but not now. My mind raced as I cleared distance. What would I say, how would I speak? Would they find me out instantly? I couldn’t piece together once bit of sanity, and the closer I got to the northern patrol the worse I got. Until it finally all exploded, as I saw the group aim at me through the bushes.

I whistled the same tune the Quartermaster had been using, screwing up the notes as I shivered. The group lowered their muskets as I approached.

“Good to see a familiar face out here. Don’t worry about the nerves we’ve all been strung up for days.” He was a Marowak, with his signature bone huddled under his arm and cracks along the skull he wore. “I was told to take you to the prisoners. While we’re here though, what was it like? The dungeon I mean.” He was awfully curious for someone who barely knew me. Even in a place like this, word spread around the crew fast.

“The dungeon, it was…interesting.”

“I’m glad to see at least some of us got some excitement from something a little less…risky.” He seemed all too eager to speak, solitude could do that to you. Maybe it was the same for both of us, but I found a bit of peace in letting out a few words.

“Here he is,” he announced.

Seeing the Grovyle was like looking through a mirror.

“I think the Doc has the armor,” the Marowak spoke.

Just the thought of wearing it made me sick. Not that I hated it, it just felt too wrong. I couldn’t just walk into that ship like this. I needed to know something, anything! Just to focus on that and blend in.

“Alright kid,” I spoke nervously. “What’s your name?”

“V-Vern,” he stuttered. Luckily his voice was very similar to mine. His hands remained tied behind his back, making him twitch around every so often to get comfortable.

“Alright Vern, I want to know a few things about you.” I sighed as softly as I could. He had a scar above his left eyebrow, and the leaves that cradled my head were almost nonexistent on him. “What happened to your head?”

“I cut it off, it got in the way.” He had willpower, no doubt about that. He was in a situation that he couldn’t bargain with though, the water was far above his head and he was probably watching his life flash by. If anyone was more nervous than our gang, it was him.

“That ship you came in on,” I pointed. “What’s it’s name?”

“The Gallant.”

“Alright, does the Gallant have anything on board that could be a little…difficult for us to overcome? Like a trap or a device, a weapon or something?”

“I-I don’t know! I couldn’t tell you anyway, t-they’ll fire me and-“

“Alright, easy! No one is going to hurt you over anything here.” I turned around to my crewmates to confirm that, but their sly little motions made it difficult to tell whether they were truthful or not. There was something missing though, I still couldn’t just walk right in there. I shook like a hurricane, I would get spotted instantly. I needed something personal, something I could attach to in there.

“So Vern,” I quaked. “What is…I don’t know.” I took a second to readjust myself. “What is your favorite color, what do you want to do, and…what are you doing here?”

My questions just made him more nervous. “Well…green I guess. I want to leave sailing now. I don’t know what I’m doing though.”

“What?”

“I mean what do you want from me? I don’t know what I’m doing here, I took a contract and I’m doing it now. I have no idea where I’m being lead to.”

“No dreams or aspirations, no one to go back to?”

“N-no, that’s why I took it in the first place. Why do you care anyway? Y-you’re not going to shoot me are you?”

“No, I’m gonna be you for a while.”

I didn’t dare to speak with him anymore. I could have told him it was okay, or that he would be safe, but who was I kidding? Even I didn’t know that. Speaking to him revealed something to me, just how similar our two crews were. We were all just sailors, trying to make a living doing the most dangerous crap in the world. And now we had turned our work against each other. Our own little war had sprung to life in the middle of the sea.

“You ready?” the Marowak asked.

“Not yet, a few things we need to take care of. The missing leaf can be hidden with the helmet, but the scar…” My crewmate knew exactly what I was thinking of, and took off his bayonet. “Do it,” I declared. After a few seconds of hesitation, I reassured him. He ran the blade above my eyelid, making a quick but painful cut. We waited for it to clot, and washed away the blood that had trickled down. It would probably be a permanent mark, but that didn’t matter now.

The Marowak lead me to the tree-line right at the edge of the beach. It wasn’t necessarily a beach, they had anchored the ship next to a set of rock that connected them to the shore. It was a massive ship, but behind it was The Crouse, which was equal in size. Although darkness protruded throughout the night, I could still see the feint flow of lanterns from the ship. I didn’t think they were planning on sleeping anytime soon.

“Doc’s just up the hill,” the Marowak said. “He’ll fill you in on the plan.” He turned back around to the camp, wishing me good luck. I was now alone in the forest, watching the two ships as I crept carefully to the hill.

I didn’t want to meet up with the Doc. He was probably fuming mad, and rightly so. I had gone against his wishes, to keep Timburr safe. Yet how was I supposed to do it to that extent? He was really the only other Pokémon I had truly known, outside of Doc that is. I came to him in a time of crisis, and we both came out of it alive. For as much as I tried reasoning it with myself, I just couldn’t shake away that shame.

Even with the guilt that assaulted my thoughts, I still wondered why the Doctor would cling to the young guy so much. They weren’t related in any way, and in any other situation they wouldn’t get along. Yet for some reason he treated Timburr like family. Nevertheless, I picked up the pace to get the meetup over with.  

Doc stayed hidden behind a set of trees, keeping is tail as low as possible. The bright fire that coincided with his pulse would have easily given him away. He was clever though, and kept it underneath a set of bushes. He was watching the enemy patrols as best as he could from a distance.

“Welcome back,” he grumbled. Already, there was something off-putting about him. He was mad but he kept his cool, which made it even worse to talk to him. “The armor is in the bushes, go put it on.” There was nothing friendly to his voice. It seemed to me that I was no more but an average crewmember to him now.

The armor fit snugly, as it would seeing as we were the same species and all. I made an effort to fold my leaves into the helmet, and I double checked to make sure the wound was dry.

 “If you fake charisma, it’ll come naturally. Just keep yourself upright and moving, talking to them is just like talking to anyone else. Hell, you could picture them as us.” I could sense a little bit of sympathy still in his voice. He made sure to cover that up again. “There’s a catch to this though.”

“Which is what?”

He took a small seed out of his pocket. “We’ve decided to assault the ship as soon as the operation is over. This is a stun seed. If you can’t make it out in time, break it and throw it out a window. That’s our signal to move in. If you can get out though, get back here as fast as possible and tell us what’s in store.” There was an awkward moment of silence between us, before a very slight hint of a smirk appeared on his face. “Wait, you’ll need a cover story.” He took a stick and whacked it against my ankle. It took my entire brute force just to keep myself from screaming.

“Damnit! What was that for?”

“That’s for what we’ll talk about later!”

“Well you’re pissed off anyway, so why not now?”

“Yes, I’m mad as hell, but it’s not the right time to be arguing. I’m not gonna be petty, so go! You have a job to do and so do I, personal crap can wait.” With that, he pushed me out of the bushes.

It was almost automatic, how I started to walk to the ship. If it had to continue like this than so be it, I’d earn back my trust with him through this mission. My veins felt like they would burst, yet I kept my cool. The armor shook and rattled with each footstep, giving away my position fast. Was it really necessary for them to use this in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of criminals chasing after them in the jungle?

“Halt!” A voice cried out. I froze, my eyeballs practically popping from my sockets. “Who’s there?” I looked ahead to see a shaded figure with a lantern. There was no going back now, the act had to carry on.

With a shrill of nervousness, I called out as calmly as I could. “It’s Vern!”

There was silence, a cold, mysterious silence for a few seconds. “Oh,” the voice said. I took it as a sign to move forward, and I hoped I was correct. The hooded figure became more apparent, and his body became visible. A Bisharp stood in front of me, although his demeanor was sluggish and rugged. “Sorry,” he continued. “I haven’t slept in ages, but what are you doing back here without your squad?”

“Uh…I twisted my ankle, so they sent me back.”

He stayed still, watching me. Did he see through my disguise? Was I that apparent? He couldn’t have, the old bastard had almost broke my leg to get me out here. Damnit, why didn’t he speak?

“Oh,” he repeated. Drowsiness had done terrible things to this Pokémon. “Well as long as you’re here,” he sluggishly murmured. He stopped mid-sentence and thought it over again. “Well as long as you’re here, you can tell the captain how well the brigade is doing.”

“You mean the company?” Asking that felt like the biggest mistake of my life.

“The brigade you were with! Was it you who didn’t sleep or me?”

“Right, sorry.”

“Aw hell who am I kidding, sorry man. Just go see him, I’m too tired to talk anymore.”

The ship was about the same size as The Crouse, and I could confirm this with the image of our ship just across the deck. I wished it was this simple, that we could just walk back on our craft and sail away from all of this. Deep down I knew it would never be this easy.

The floors were made of a fine wood. While our ship’s floors were smooth and refurbished, this was rough and coarse. It had not been sanded down, and there was nothing added to make the wood silky. This ship was made for a military, so it was made quickly. It was better than nothing for these Pokémon I suppose. There was no quarterdeck, and no doors that lead to an elongated captain’s quarters. The deck was absolutely clear of everything except for a few cannons and the pieces of wood that jutted upward for cover.

This ship was not build for one on one confrontations. Sure, it had cannons and all, but it’s main purpose was transporting Pokémon. Each floor had long corridors of sleeping compartments, at least a hundred crewmembers slept here. A nervousness crept through me. If we had only seen thirty or forty soldiers on the island, including the ones that were now in the dungeon, then who knows how many were going to be detached from here?

I walked down the corridor, easing myself through the rows. I couldn’t ask anything, not a single question. They would know I wasn’t the real Vern straight away. Yet I couldn’t just walk around aimlessly. What if the guard upstairs had told someone else about me? I needed to find the ship’s cells before any of this escalated. Otherwise I’d have to talk to another one of the Pokémon on the ship.

“Hey Vern! Long time no see!” someone called. I turned around to a Wartortle who was running down the hall to greet me. My mind raced in a desperate panic as he ran.  “Why are you back so early, twisted your ankle huh? I saw you limping there, did you get in a fight?”

“N-no not really, just tripped on a root or something.”

“Aw, you probably missed out on some action out there! I wish I could’ve gone with ya, I’m stuck on cleaning duty till the end of-“ He stopped halfway through his sentence and gave me the most suspicious look I have ever seen. “Say, you look…different.”

“W-what do you mean?” I stammered.

“Well the colors gone from your skin, and you’re slouched a bit too much. You okay?”

“Y-yea, I’m just t-tired is all. Yea, tired!”

He was still off putting, and I could sense something boiling up just waiting to happen. I slowly moved my hand into a fist, I awaited whatever would come next. Would this guy rush me? I was ready for the bastard!

He turned around, “Well alright, have a good night. Get some rest.”

I should have let him leave, but in desperation I spoke. “H-hey wait a minute!” He turned around to face me, and suddenly it became a bit harder to speak. “You…you remember where we kept that captain?”

“Who?”

“The one we captured from that ship.”

“Yea, he’s down below. Why wouldn’t you remember a thing like that?” he smirked.

“I don’t know, I’m still drowsy is all.”

“Yea well, get some rest then. Whatever it is you got against the guy can wait, we’re sending the rest of the guys out tomorrow?”

“What, the rest of the crew?” I nervously asked.

“Yea, the captain made that clear an hour ago. We take off in the morning.” He left me with an ache in my soul. We only had a few more hours before the bastards would take us out. Whatever we were planning had better work.

I snuck around the busy Pokémon. He was still on latrine duty, so no surprise that he was too preoccupied to see me walking to the lower floors of the hold. Heavens above, what a shock that was. Any weariness or worry manifested itself tenfold. I was on the second floor down, and in front of me lay even more sleeping pokemon. There had to be a hundred, no, two hundred down there. A city’s worth of them were sleeping right under our noses. Whatever battles we were planning for tomorrow felt more like surrenders. I could only shiver as I snuck through the corridor. Down this hallway sat fifty of them on either side, just how many would have to die to deescalate this predicament?

I whispered to myself in desperation, the adrenaline had gotten to my head. “My name is Vern, I like green, I don’t know what I’m doing. My name is Vern…”

Nothing, there was nothing at the end of that hallway, just a room for supplies like food and ammunition. The door adjacent to it revealed a multitude of muskets and flint-locks. Thousands upon thousands of guns were in here. A thought came to mind, a clever little plot to ease our battle. Yet as I heard more of them stir awake, I knew I had to let it go for the time being.

This time I ran down the corridor. I didn’t care who heard me, or who awoke. If my disguise had worked once it could work again. I made it to the stairs, and descended to the third floor. There were just more troops. Another row of the sleeping crew found itself down here. Although this was only half the amount of troops as before, it was still a large enough number to take us all out on their own. Just how many were sleeping here total? We had thought them to be like us, just a ragtag group of about fifty Pokémon. It was apparent that they anticipated our numbers before they had even left their ports. What I would give to see the kind of wanted list we were on now.

The halfway point of the ship was marked with a wooden wall. A wooden door stood before me, it remained locked. I knew the moment I went through that door, it’d be impossible to keep my cover. It didn’t matter at that point, I was dead either way.

So I made the only logical decision I had all day, I broke the door. It was particularly easy. All I had to do was form a leaf-blade, and cut around the lock. It opened gently, as if nothing had ever happened. Slowly I crept in, still remaining in the shadows. No guards were present, but there was still a multitude of Pokémon in here. I was in the holding cells, with at least fifty captives in here.

Immediately, one of them sprang up. “Hey it’s a guard!” In a twinkling of an eye the entire room was practically standing up. I could’ve sworn they were going to make a ruckus.

“Easy, easy! I’m not a guard!”

“Aye, but ye’ look just like one,” a prisoner chirped.

I threw the armor off my body. “I don’t care what you think of me, just don’t give me away.” It was clear that none of them were from around here. Thick accents and different looks reassured this. Still, I had to stop focusing on these minute details and cut to the chase. “Look,” I spoke calmly. “Is there a Sceptile here? I need to speak to him.”

A humbly quiet voice spoke from beyond my vision. “Sid?” Yet the prisoners remained in their spots, protecting the voice that was so familiar.

“Do you know who this guy is?” one of the prisoners asked.

The voice replied again, just as silent and cracked as before. “Yes, just let me see him.” At his command, the crowd around him dissipated, and the Captain stumbled over to the bars.

“C-Captain!” I almost shouted. He was weak and bruised. Long, thick lashes embodied every inch of his skin. His bandages were muddy and full of grit, not from anything sterile to be sure. Although he was standing in pain and humility, it was merely a show. I could see it in his eyes, that angry passion that drove him onward. If anything could give me hope, it was those eyes.

I tried to place my hands on the bars, but it was impossible. There was an invisible energy that kept them in place, some sort of psychic block. They burned my skin, worse than any fire or heat could on the entire planet. Yet my skin remained clean, the power behind this cage was enough to challenge my own mind.

He finally spoke, his voice quiet yet still demanding the role he had put on himself. “What’s going on?”

“Borat has a plan to get you out of here, but I needed to scout the ship first. More importantly, we needed to make sure you were ok.”

He chuckled, “That bastard still has a few tricks in his bag, I’ll give him that.”

I looked him over, his body wobbling from several days of unrelenting stress. “My god, look what they’ve done to you.”

“I didn’t give in!” he spat. Rage began to flow through his lungs. “I kept my mouth shut with those bastards! They’ve done something Sid, something they’ll regret when I’m out of here.”

“That has to wait, I need to get back to the crew. Now, do you know anything about this ship?”

“They…cycle the guards every few hours, but they never patrol at night. If you strike fast you could take this thing over in less than a minute!” He lunged his head out from the bars. If his hands weren’t tied behind his back, he would have lunged for my shoulders. “But Sid, Sid! Did you get the cymbals? That’s all I need to know.” A quick nod sent relief down his spine, but that ended quickly. His body shot up with dread, something had scarred his mind while he was still captive. “Sid, you have to understand something. I need you to relay this back to Borat, he’s-“

The Captain shut himself up as footsteps resonated from above. He motioned to be quiet, and we could faintly hear what was going on above.

“That Pokémon that came through here, it’s not him!”

“An imposter?”

“Where could he be?”

“That bastard we have in the cells, he has to be there!”

Before the Captain could speak I had already rushed through the door. My legs had a mind of their own, and I rushed for the stairs. Damn, they were already coming down! I rushed back into the shadows, creeping to the end of the room.

“Let’s keep this low,” one of them whispered. “I don’t wanna wake the others up.” They knew who I was, because of my species it was impossible to sneak right by their ranks anymore. Yet they made one critical error, having a conscience. They wouldn’t wake their crewmembers up. The bastards were trying to get me in a corner. I could hear them, feel them. They walked slowly down the hallway. I remained hidden behind the wall of sleeping Pokémon. Peering around the corner with a single eye, I could see them halfway across the room. Their only light was the lanterns they held tightly.

I saw it in an instant. One of them motioned to his left, and two of them sprang to the other side of the room. Their intent was clear. They still thought I was inside the cell block. They were going to corner me between the doors, or so they thought. I searched for a break in their formation. To my left was the group of three, but on the right was the group that had splintered off. Only two Pokémon stood before me on the right.

I couldn’t keep my head poking out any longer. Their light was reaching my position, and they would’ve spotted me in no time flat. I panicked, I really was cornered in! They approached from both sides, their footsteps grew louder and heavier. Their footsteps! I had found my salvation! I took a long breath, and held it. All that remained was me, the blood that rushed through my veins, and the vibrations that trembled through the wood below. If I couldn’t see it, and if I couldn’t trust myself to hear it, then I would feel it.

Fifty yards. They were still far enough to see me. I was going to wait for the perfect moment. Forty yards. My mind kept going, kept visualizing every single outcome. Thirty yards. Damnit, I needed to think straight. Twenty yards. No more beating around the bush, concentrate! Ten yards, eight, five. This was it, do or die. Three, two…

I swiped right where I wanted to. My body lurched to the left, my claws swinging faster than I could see. I hit right where I expected their hands to be. My hands clashed against their only lantern. For a split second, glass shimmered like diamonds, and the blood from my hands sparkled. I felt flesh rip in an instant, and a burn resonate deep in my palm. Nevertheless, I had done it. I had broken their only light source.

His shoulder was mine for the taking. I lunged for it, pushing him into the corner I once cowered behind. His buddy was too shocked to react. The corridor ahead of me was clear, I was free! I ran harder than I think I ever had before. The screams and yells from behind me faded into a blur, until one final sound resonated with me. There was a bang, and the entire crew was awake.

They had no chance of catching me. As they stirred and shook themselves awake, I was already climbing my way to the deck. The Bisharp still stood at the entrance. It was as if the gunshot hadn’t even registered with him yet. I almost ran back across the Cliffside. Hell, I could’ve stopped and thanked him for the wonderful help he had given me in raiding his own ship, but a squadron stood in front of the drowsy Pokémon. They had tried to send another group of soldiers out into the wilderness. No wonder I had been found out, the place almost felt empty if not for the janitor and the sleeping army. They took one look at me and aimed down their barrels. The Bisharp didn’t even flinch, if they actually fired he would’ve taken it like a true hero.

The flash seed! I had completely forgotten my mission in the haze of escaping. I ran to the other end of the ship, foraging through my bag for the foreign object. Once I had it, I looked up. They were right there, just five seconds away and charging fast. I cracked it, split the seed in half like a twig. A second passed, and I met the guards eye to eye. I could practically feel his breath steam up against me. Then, a flash, a bright light encaptivated us all. I fell to my knees. I couldn’t see, it was all too bright. I had failed to look away, but there was no time to loose. They would’ve taken the same amount of time as me to get over the effect. So I made my choice, and I embraced a little bit of death. Lunging to my left, I charged into absolute blindness. My legs hit the railing, and my body tumbled forward. I fell towards the water, and prayed nothing would kill me.

There was a splash, and then an unbearable frost. I barely stopped myself from gasping. I would have drowned right there, the bright lights still haunting me to my death. I slowly sank. I had to wait for my vision to come back, just a few more moments. Just don’t drown. I focused on the sounds from above, or wherever they came from. Beyond the white noise of the water, I could sense something was starting on the surface. A few more seconds passed, still just bright lights. I could feel my ears pop, still just flashing colors. My lungs begged for mercy, still just white noise. I felt my bottom touch the ocean floor, and my vision came back.

The surface was right above me, at least thirty feet away. I pushed away, breaking for the surface as fast as I could. I could feel this energy burst out of my chest, as my body was being pushed to its very limits. My mouth opened, i was automatically gasping for air. Water nearly touched my windpipe before I broke the surface.

I gasped for air as musket fire flared in my ears. The shoreline was littered with bright flashes every few seconds. The alarm had been raised, and the entirety of both crews had met at this one point. I couldn’t stop now. Even if my body gave up I would still push on in spirit. I had to swim to shore, what little of it there was. I ran for the tree line, as the enemy aimed and fired straight at me. Just a few more feet, that’s all I asked of myself. I tripped, and tumbled into the bushes for cover. My right shoulder littered itself with cuts and splinters, but I laid there peacefully. I coughed up what little water had entered me, and surrendered.

A shrill call ringed through my ears. Its long, narrow pitch and its deafening roar sent waves through a mind that no longer wished to be awake. “C’mon!” it yelled. It didn’t feel like a demand, nor a suggestion. “Get on your feet, we’re pushing in!” The voice pulled me up, a rush of spirit that overflowed within me. I woke up from my trance. Although I wished for slumber, this wouldn’t be my chance. The forest was already alit with thunderous sounds. Alongside the muskets that fired away at the ship, a multitude of moves and abilities flew through the air. Fireballs and pieces of rock, orbs of aura or psychic ability, they shot from all directions from either side of the battle.

“Get up my friend!” the voice called again. This time I knew who it was. The sudden embrace of the Marowak enveloped my shoulders. “You okay?”

“Yea,” was all I could muster. Skoro, that was the only word that echoed through my head. “W-where’s Skoro?”

“Somewhere on the left flank, opposite side of the cliff my friend.” He handed me the musket in his hands. “Once again, you have to hold this. I gotta get you back to the Doctor!”

We took off through the brush. This time iron and fire cascaded the night sky. We ducked every few feet, waiting for the hellfire to end, moving up during the pauses in their attack. A deafening yell overshadowed the musket fire, a battle cry that sparked morale through the crewmembers. The right flank was overflowing with spirit, as each sailor independently shot and reloaded their weapons. Every so often one of them would throw away their weapon, and continue battling with a long ranged attack. The few dragon-types we had fired away with their brimstone, and the only fire based attack came from where I knew Skoro had set herself down. Meanwhile, the enemy had the advantage when it came to their types. For a job that involved a lot of water, their crew had tons of fire-types. The shrill cry of gas came from the deck of their ship as they fired away in succession. A rain of fire and lava poured down into the tree line, sparking flames that set the forest alit. A few of our own water-types sprinted to dowse the flames.

Without even noticing it, I had splintered away from the Marowak. I was making my way to Skoro. I knew where she was, the flames that came from the south had to have been hers. I sprinted through the flora, the pain in my shoulder was practically nonexistent. There she was, and there was her piece of cover! A rock that protruded from the soil, that’s where she threw her flames from! I rushed into the embrace of the rock, just nearly avoiding the pellets that flew at me.

“Are you okay?” I wheezed. My lungs were still not prepared for all this exercise.

“Yea of course, but what happened to you? You left all of a sudden.”

I smiled, “I had a job to do. In fact, I just cheated death.” I put my hands on her cheeks, grateful to know she was unharmed. I wanted to stay there, to sit like this forever. Not once did a thought of the past, or of regret run through me. I just wanted to hold her again. This little war could wait.

“Remorse later my friend!” The Marowak shouted. Within an instant he had caught up with me again, his hands pushing me away from her and further to my right. “I spoke to the Doctor, and he said to send you straight to the Quartermaster. Hurry friend!”

I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye. The Pokémon who had cared so much for me had dragged me out into the open, pulling me towards the Quartermaster’s group. Borat stood alongside a line of ten Pokémon, who fired in equal timing at the ship ahead. He seemed truly alive, a stark contrast from the somber moments before the attack. This was him at his prime, his chance to redeem all of the crew’s honor!

“Sir!” I yelled over the gunfire.

He turned to see me stand a few feet away, hesitant to go stand next to him in the open. He was in no position to speak himself, with the shrapnel of cannons missing him by mere inches. He backed off into the set of rocks I cowered behind. “Did you speak with Jonah?”

“Yes, the Captain is fine. They tortured him Borat, but he didn’t break.”

“Bastards! I’ll cut them to shreds!” His loyalty was never yielding.

“We have to move quickly sir! There’s at least three hundred men in that hold!”

His eyes shot up in fear, we had all estimated the crew to be no more than the size of our own. The twenty minutes or so I had spent on their ship signified just how well equipped they were.

“W-we can’t just back away,” he murmured. “We just got here damnit, this is our only chance!”

“Then what do you suppose we do sir?”

His thoughts were prevalent through his eyes, as they darted back and forth, piecing together a split second decision that would either be our winning move or our doom. “If this really is our only chance, then we take it!”

He stood up, and called to the line of Pokémon he commanded. “To me, on me!” They huddled around him, making a ‘v’ shape with him in the center. “First to enter and last to exit, let’s go!” He called to our comrades in the brush, “Wait for their pauses and push up on my command!” The call was echoed throughout the forest, as the crew relayed it amongst themselves. We all made our way to the cliff that separated us from both the enemy and The Crouse. The Doc was still standing there, taking potshots at the enemy whenever he could.

“What’s going on Sid?” he called.

“We’re pushing when they stop firing, on the Quartermaster’s signal.”

 “This is all too quick,” he shook.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this is all too surreal, there hasn’t been one crewmember who’s needed my help. Not a single one!”

There was no time to think it through. The order was given, and in the moments that passed after Doc’s revelation, the enemy went silent. For a moment I thought the world had become absolutely still. The only sound I could hear was my own heart beating. But slowly, ever so slowly, my hearing adjusted, and I could faintly hear the noises that whispered from ahead. A collective set of silent cracks and clicks is what it was, the reloading of a musket.

“Charge ‘em boys! Charge ‘em!”

All fifty of us, both the injured and the well alive ran into the clearing. In three seconds we were all behind the Quartermaster, in five we were just a few feet away from the boarding ramp. We moved like cavalry, taking advantage of their panicked reloads. We overthrew them in a matter of moments, the deck had become our domain. When suddenly, an ambush! They crawled out of every space. The stairs to the hold, the mast and the mainsail, the very floor below us, if the deck was our domain than the rest of the ship was their booby trap and we had just walked right into it. The sound of a thousand guns rang out, along with countless moves and attacks that had been prepared in advanced. I saw our own boys in the front start to fall one by one. The line of troops that backed up the Quartermaster was almost nonexistent now.

“We can’t hold out here!” he cried out. “Push for The Crouse!” With the order, our voices multiplied into the shrill yell that we called our own. Fifty voices sounded like a hundred as we passed the enemy lines as quickly as we could, still holding what little formation we had left.

“Kid, help me out!” Doc called. I saw him rushing for the sailors that had fallen to the first wave. I hesitated to help him, staying still would be death. “They won’t shoot a medic, so come here!”

“Why do you say that?” I asked quickly as I dropped to his side.

“Pokémon are more moral than you think Sid. Now help me turn him over!”  If I was in the middle of the formation, I was now near the back. The Doctor and I had only moments to check for any signs of life. “What the hell?” he quivered. He motioned me to feel the pulse, “You feelin’ this? He was shot point blank and no wounds, just a bruis-“

His eyes shot wide open. With as much strength as an old Pokémon could pull from his lungs, he cried out with a crackle, “Fall back! They’re hitting us with blanks, it’s an ambush!”

But it was already too late. Calls from the front of the line revealed that the enemy had been preparing on our own ship. A line of cannons fired from our deck. Within the moment, those who were stuck in the front of the charge fell faster than before. The larger ship had already wrapped around the island and was making its way towards us. The enemy crew knew this before we had. Echoes from the back resonated as well. The enemy squadron that had descended into the island’s dungeon was already out, and running towards our back flank. Anyone who was still stuck in the forest had surrendered by now, and we were sitting in the midst of one of the largest ambushes in history. A hundred soldiers appeared from both sides of the ship. They darted up from the stairs and the floorboards. They enveloped us, breaking our right flank. They charged at our internal ranks with the intent to stun rather than kill. All the while Doc and I could just sit and watch.

“Accepted it boy,” he murmured. “It’ll be over quick.” A large brute of a Pokémon tackled him to the ground, and the butt of a rifle knocked me down cold.

 

-

 

Hundreds of years can go by in an instant, yet a week could feel like a millennium. Once again time held no meaning, and I found myself in the world of worlds, the place where all futures met. My unconscious mind couldn’t understand why I kept going back there, and when I was awake I forgot about it in a matter of minutes. Yet the time I spent in here lasted an eternity, and only ended when I was satisfied with it. The Captain, the fights and the battles, the Quartermaster’s pride-driven dilemma, they all seemed so insignificant compared to my own problems. There were two questions that revealed their nature in this place. Where was I, and who was I? And when I couldn’t answer either, I woke up.

I awoke in a dark, wet room. A place that felt so familiar, but I couldn’t remember why. I sat amongst a multitude of Pokémon, my crewmates and strangers, all of them tied up with their hands to their backs. Thick metal bars separated us from the outside world. I realized all too soon where I remained captive, in the hold of the very ship we had tried to commandeer.

Everyone in the cell ached with bruises and broken bones. Not a single comrade of mine was killed in the attack, but we had not gone unscathed. I peered around to see the room divided. On one side sat The Crouse’s crew, and the other held the strangers that inhabited the cells before us. Our breaths were the first thing to notice, the air was thick from just how many Pokémon were trapped inside. There were no windows, and hardly any light was given to us. I felt like I would nearly choke from the lack of any real air, but it was clear that no such event would occur.

I scrambled around on my knees, looking for someone I knew in the dark. Had all of us made it on board, had they left some of us behind? I finally brushed up against the Quartermaster, his thick white coat was the first hint of his presence.

“Sir,” I humbly spoke. “What’s happened, how long has it been?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. Throughout all of our voyages, he was always so keen to speak. He never shied away from conversation, a quality that made him who he was today. Yet as we sat there with our hands behind our backs, it was clear that he had been silenced. The last of his pride was gone, he must have thought there was no hope to regain the trust of his own crew. For all of his broken valor though, they stood by him. Maybe it was something that was absolutely blind to him.

The only thing he spoke to me again was, “You’ve been out for about twelve hours.”

It was enough time for anything to happen. Enough time for whatever shut the Quartermaster up to reveal itself. Something had happened in the morning that had stirred hopelessness into all our hearts. No one really knew what it was though, and I all too soon realized that whatever it was hadn’t even visited us yet. It was the Captain. This entire time, he had remained seated with his head slouched on his shoulders. Not a word came from him. If he was as depressed as I suspected, then no wonder the crew had followed suit.

“Captain,” I begged, dragging myself over to his side. “Captain you have to tell me what’s happened.”

“What do you mean?” he choked. There was hardly a voice to him anymore. It crackled and groaned to the point where his voice was unrecognizable.

“What happened on this ship? Who did this to you, and to us?”

He had gone mad. His silent giggles were uncontrollable. “You wanna know something funny? It’s-“

The door would answer his own question. As several figures emerged, the Captain’s expression turned to pure hatred as he glared down whoever had just entered. I couldn’t make out who exactly it was, not a single trace of them was visible on the other side of the cell. An unknown number of footsteps found their way into the room, joining whoever had just entered.

Yet no one spoke, there was an unearthly silence in the room for a while. It seemed as if they had come just to view us, like we were some sort of commodity to be observed and watched. Before too long, they made their intentions known.

“Lieutenant Vernon,” the voice began, almost immediately stopping. Lieutenant, no one had told me the other Grovyle was a lieutenant! Just how much trouble had I gotten myself into?

“Lieutenant,” the voice restated. “You’ve stated that the Grovyle in the cell had attempted to impersonate you, yes? Now before you begin, could one of the privates please put on a light over there?” The Pokémon seemingly obeyed. A lantern shot up with a single flame, and the lieutenant was now observable. Although their side of the room was lit, the Pokémon asking the question was still cast in shadow.

“Yes sir,” Vern replied. “He cut himself to take my appearance, but before that, he asked me several questions.”

“What kind of questions lieutenant?”

“Well, personal questions. Like who I was and what I did on the ship. I never told him of my rank, but he never forced me to say anything else.”

“Did they attempt to torture you?”

He took a while to answer, trying to find one that wouldn’t come off as defending us. “Well…no. They were a very quiet group, didn’t demand anything of us when we were captured. The Grovyle, he just asked me very politely and I replied.”

“Why did you?”

“Well, I feared for my life.”

“And did they threaten your life?”

“Never, not even when the Grovyle left.”

“I see.” The voice had begun to sound ever so slighting sarcastic, almost mocking us with this courtroom setup. “Lieutenant, you may return to your bunk. Your crewmates are worried about you.”

“Thank you, but how do you know that sir?”

“…Just leave us please.”

There was something off about the hidden Pokémon. It was clear now, that he had cast himself into the shadows on purpose. The lantern was a ruse to keep us guessing, no, not all of us. I turned to look at the quartermaster, who began to share the same look the Captain held. His shock ridden face revealed that he had heard the voice before, that it was someone who wanted to make themselves known. Keeping themselves in the shadows was just a plot to strike fear into the sailors who knew him the most.

“Captain Monroe, would you please step into the light?”

A tall, prideful Typhlosion stepped forward. His back sparked a little, revealing his tenacity for a mere second.

“Captain, how many of your sailors were lost in this endeavor?”

The fiery captain scoffed, “Twenty-two on the island, fifteen during the raid. That’s thirty-seven dead in total.” There was no mistaking it. The voice was the same as the one on the larger ship. It was the voice that started this bet in the first place.

“You…” I heard Borat mutter.

“’Ello blinky, miss me yet?” He had just finished listing his own crew’s losses, yet he remained as sly as ever. With a wink to us, he stepped back into the shadows.

“Thank you captain, all of you may leave now.”

A decently sized group of footsteps left the room. All that was left was us, the lantern, and the voice.

“My, my, I never realized what a business you had going for yourself Jonah.” Confusion sparked through all of us. Borat’s expression twisted for the worse, realizing something I hadn’t yet. “I have to say, the speech you made in my honor was a little touching, if not for the indifference of course. But where are my manners? Let me turn on a light for you.”

The mysterious voice became footsteps, moving towards the left-hand side of the room. A match was struck, and his figure became known. He was fully visible now, a lantern now illuminating the rest of the area. A Hypno stood before us, his cold demeanor glared over each one of us.

 “You!” I gulped. “But you were dead! You had a hole in your head, there was blood everywhere!”

“Ah but don’t forget the bloody paper,” he reminded. “There was a paper drenched in my blood as well. Or have you forgotten?”

“Y-you were laying down in a pool of blood! I could feel it, smell it even!”

Hypno chuckled, “Even the greatest detectives in the world cannot detect what a psychic-type can create. Didn’t you notice the most glaring issue? The paper was covered in my blood, lying in the puddle, yet it remained dry.”

There was something wrong with this picture. What the Hypno suggested was absolutely insane, but if he was standing before us then it had to be true. We had hallucinated the entire event. The blood, the body, it was all in our heads. I think it affected the Captain the most, as he was the one who mourned for his friend’s loss. To find out it was all a trap had to be a truly disgusting feeling.

“I have to say, I was touched by your reaction to my death, Jonah. Almost immediately, you wanted to find whoever did that to me. I admire that, it’s one of your better qualities.”

“Bastard!” the Captain roared. “You were my boss, my comrade! I trusted you, I trusted all of you!”

The Hypno became very somber, no longer wishing to keep up a sarcastic façade. “You had every right to…”

“How much,” Jonah hissed. “How much did they pay you do drag me in here?”

“They didn’t pay me at all. In fact, it cost us something. Two million poke in gold…” His face showed guilt, the kind one couldn’t easily keep hidden.

The Captain growled with rage. Somehow he had unbound his arms, and he lunged for the Pokémon in front of him. There was murder in his voice, as he sobbed between breaths. He was encaptivated in an absolute rage, and the only thing that kept him from killing the Hypno right there, were the bars that held him hostage. The aura was nothing to him, he became an animal. The burns that should have encaptivated his body were nothing, his anger blocked off all his pain.

The Hypno stepped back, seemingly uninterested in how the Captain had unbound himself. Jonah continued to rage, probably unable to understand the Pokémon in front of him. Nevertheless, his somber explanation continued.

“They found out, Jonah. They found out about the gold, the ship you sank. The crew that you didn’t already kill survived, and they repeated everything to the heads at the top.” He chuckled morbidly. “They want my head, if I can’t get back the gold. So what choice do I have? I’m sorry Jonah, I really am. I had no choice.”

The captain stretched himself as far as he could, still intent on killing his former ally.

“The island,” Borat spoke, taking the Hypno’s attention. “Why did you lead us to the island then?”

“It seemed like a perfect spot. It was away from civilization, away from any bystanders or neutral parties. I already had intent to come here anyway.” He pointed to Jonah, “And seeing his reaction here, he would have probably burned down anything in his way.”

“But why make us get the cymbals? You left so many clues leading to it.”

“What? No, I never intended for you ‘mercs to get it. That’s why I sent my own crew in there. Well, until I realized you had already stolen it.” He took a piece of paper from his bag, and extended it for the bear to see. “We have a mission from the guild over on the Grass Continent. They wanted the object for research, and the duo who originally found it are too old to go hunting for it themselves.”

“But why work for them? I thought the Coalburners were only interested in their own affairs.”

For some reason, the Hypno still carried some sort of respect for our group. It was clear as he spoke to the Quartermaster, maybe it was why he revealed so much.

“We were,” he began. “But it’s clear now that not everyone trusts us, one of our biggest secrets is how we started the ‘country.’ We cannot afford a war though, it would cost too many lives on both sides. So that’s where I got my job, managing a few groups to clean up our own messes, and forming a relationship with the Grass Continent. If we can get ourselves an ally, then maybe we’ll survive long enough to truly call ourselves a country.”  

“Then why torture him? The spy I sent in here found him this way. If you really did know we would come here-“

“What? No, I’d never torture him. Trying to beat information out of him would be useless anyway.” He looked down to the Captain, still straining to get himself out of the prison and cut the Hypno down to size. “As soon as he saw me, he couldn’t contain himself. He killed three of my best crew with his bare hands, and even then it took a dozen of us to knock him out. I knew you’d pull a trick like that, but this…surprised me.” 

He still refused to speak to the Captain, I don’t think there was any merit to do so anyway.

“Then what now?” Borat humbly asked.

“Well, we’ll turn you into the Guild in Treasure Town. I think that’s the only real option here, you are the ones who found the instrument and know how to use it. Your ship will probably be scrapped or sold, and you’ll go one of their prisons. If they have one that is, crazy bastards over there are too nice.” They both chuckled over that thought. They weren’t really enemies I suppose.

“I’ll arrange something though. Please understand Borat, this wasn’t my intention, I had no choice. After ten years, I didn’t want it to end like this.” He took a long sigh, almost hesitant to go. “Goodbye…Jonah.”

He walked out, closing the door behind himself. The room became morbidly silent, for such a long time too. The lanterns ran out of fuel, their light died in the unending silence. Captain Jonah had worn himself out. His body was draped over the bars, never ceasing to stretch up and down as he caught his breath. The Hypno had subdued the aura’s effect, knowing full well the Captain couldn’t move.

The first words spoken in over an hour were a quiet remorse. “Well,” the Quartermaster sighed. “That’s it then.”

“No…” the Captain panted. “Not yet…I’ll kill ‘em all.”

Borat wouldn’t reply, nor would anyone else. The next day would pass like this, time almost nonexistent. One action alone revealed the crew’s intentions, one desperation showed our true intent-- a captain behind bars, longing for revenge.

News would spread through this ship like wildfire, echoes that carried weight, same as it had on ours. We could hear it from the other side of our cells, from the crew that spoke to each other through the hallways. Our ship remained intact, not a single piece of equipment stirred onboard. Yet the cargo we had carried for years on end was finally removed. The gold was taken away from our hold, and cast into the larger ship. The Gallant would remain steadfast, keeping its course towards Treasure Town’s shore. The two of our ships would remain locked together, with guards patrolling the decks and holds of each. The larger ship still remained a mystery, its name lost in the battle we had endured. It did not wish to stay very long with us, and within the first day it had already set sail back to the island. Its crew and its cargo would never see us again.

One last thing would resonate in our own cell, one fleeting statement that kept me silent for the entire trip. The Gallant’s crew had used nonlethal weaponry to subdue us, but our sailors still had one casualty. Although rubber, a stray pellet had struck the Marowak in the skull that molded to his face. It cracked in two, and he died instantly.

Three days had passed, three long and enduring days that never seemed to move. It was a time of reflection, or maybe even regret. During those last few days I huddled against Skoro. We rested, back to back, a subtle hint of affection. Yet neither the crew nor Timburr had realized the bond we secretly shared. It remained romantic to the both of us, seeing as how secretive it was. Although we couldn’t sleep from the sickness that churned in our stomachs, she found the strength to whisper one last thing to me. One final set of words that, for what situation we were in, sparked a small bit of hope in my soul.

“I promise you, I’ll find a way out of this for both of us.”

The nights became long and tedious. I never knew the distance between ourselves and the ports of Treasure Town, but I counted down every minute of the journey. Anything could happen there, the past had seemingly caught up with me. A week would pass, maybe more. No one dared to speak, not the Captain nor the Quartermaster. Not a single question, or a plan to escape from this mess. The Captain kept his form against the bars, still lingering in his defeated state. No Pokémon had the nerves to comfort him, to talk him out of this depression. If anyone could plan their way out of this mess, it was him. Yet he remained in defeat, and if that was the case then the crew would follow him in their own defeat.

Borat had his own intentions though. As far as I knew him, he was the planner of the group. So in the absence of paper and pen, his eyes would dart back and forth for days on end. He seemed to wrap his head around it all, the betrayal, the plan Hypno so easily shared with him, our eventual fate in prison. Either he was trying to get the truth for himself, or he was finding a way out of there.

“Hey,” a voice spoke up. It was thick in accent, from someone who hadn’t learned to speak properly. Their words were ones that were learned from experience rather than schooling, showing the pronunciation of a true sailor. His voice rasped, and he spent more than a minute coughing. The voice showed signs of age, one that came from an age of myth and glory. A Pokémon finally stepped out of the way, having checked on the elder for what was wrong. The elder stood up, a Sawk in form, but one that had never trained in martial arts. He bore no robes that revealed that nature, instead taking the clothes of a common sailor. There was no need to bind him, the old man was too fragile to run as it were. Propping himself on his cane, he began to limp towards our crew.

“You,” he began. “You are not like us. You do not bear the dirt ‘n grime that we share.”

“What…do you mean?” Borat intrigued.

“While we belong on this ship for our own deeds, the blood ‘n our hands, you have none of that. Who are you really?”

“Privateers…”

The old Sawk chuckled. “Privateers eh? Takin’ ransoms from the highest bidder, killin’ a sailor for a contract, is that the life you chose? You’re maybe half the type we are.”

“And what would that be?”

“Thieves, murderers, pirates…” The Sawk circled back to his crew, inspecting ours as he did so. “What you do for a paycheck, we’ve been doin’ out of obligation.”

“No!” the Captain snapped. “You and I are much the same.”

“Jonah-“

He motioned for the bear to keep quiet, kneeing his way over to the elder. “What we do is exactly alike, just two names that separate us from each other. We’ve stolen, and cheated and killed, all for a bidder yes. Just as you do the same for yourselves. Let me make something clear though. On our side of the book, what we do is legal. That’s why we are called privateers, not because we kill for glory, but for money. We are the mercenaries of the sea!” His pride returned in his words. Talking to this stranger brought something back in him, whether it be through anger or not.

“Legally huh?” He sat back down among his crew. We were not as beaten and broken as they were, each of them was missing something of themselves. “I’m presuming that the psychic was your client before, right?” He took the captain’s silence as a yes, “Do not think he cannot listen in on this room right now.”

The captain huffed out words he took trouble in saying. “I have no more attachment with that Pokémon.”

“I never knew what a privateer really was,” the old Sawk continued, almost unaware of what the Captain had just said. “I just assumed that all the ships that came fer’ us were of naval decent. So in that sense, thank you fer’ removing my competition. But while it’s in my head, you said ‘legally’ right?”

The Captain nodded.

“Then, if there was ever a chance of us leaving the prison we will of course be stayin’ in, is there a chance of a little ‘arrangement’ between the both of us?”

Captain Jonah bore the most devilish grin I had ever seen in my life, stretching far beyond anything he usually showed. “I’ll say it once, very clearly for you to hear. If you help us get out of this very cell, I will personally make you one of my own crew.”

Something shifted in the Sawk. It was clear he wished to remain in secrecy, but the Captain was so forward, so outgoing, that the entire plot was clear for anyone in the vicinity. The elder almost seemed to bear the same grin as the Captain, taking to heart his tenacity and almost assaulting nature. “Well, I see-“

The door at the end of the room creaked to life, revealing an all too familiar face. Lieutenant Vernon stepped into the room, setting himself down on a bench that resided on the floor. “Alright, you have twenty minutes before we reach port.” 

The elder retreated back into a casual pose, his back settling into the wood he leaned on. With one swift motion, he looked to the Captain, and nodded in approval.

Something was up though, and both sides of the cell could see this. The Lieutenant stood up, nervously picking away at the palm of his right hand. He gulped several times, trying to conceive something in his head.

“You,” he said, motioning to me. I dragged myself towards the bars, hoping the Grovyle wasn’t wishing for revenge.

He spoke in a low voice, softly enough that most of the room couldn’t hear. “Unbind yourself.”

“What?”

“I’m not stupid. We’re the same species, we have the same claws, so unbind yourself.” After I did so, he demanded for me to put my hands outside of the bars. He looked around the room, most notably behind him, before continuing. “I’ve been demoted. They’ve put the entire responsibility of your capture on my head, when I wasn’t even involved. I’m a private again, and even worse, I’ve been put on permanent guard duty.”

“I thought the cells didn’t need guarding.”

“They were saving it for someone ‘special’…” He shivered for a moment, “So I want a little payback, so why don’t you Pokémon start that for me?”

Without a word of explanation, I felt a cold shock rush through my hand. Something metal had been placed in my palm, and looking down, I saw it was the key to the cell. Still without words, he moved backwards. For a moment I shook as much as he did, before getting a hold of myself and moving for the door. I turned the key slowly, still cautious if this was a trap. Yet he remained still, never moving outside of his nervous spasms.

“You know,” I spoke softly. “You’re not exactly lieutenant material.”

“It seems like I was never supposed to be.” He handed me his gun, assuring me that it was not loaded. “You need to knock me out, they’ll be too suspicious in the investigation. My life is over as it is, but I want some leeway.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. He nodded hesitantly. I looked him over one last time, before thanking him. I gripped the barrel in my hands, the butt of the stock as far away as possible. I gave him one good whack across the head, and he was out cold. I didn’t care what the situation was, or that he had given me the permission to do it. In that moment, it felt like the most evil thing I had ever done.

I turned to see both crews still sitting in the cells, maybe too shocked to do anything about the open door. In a flash my crew began to bolt for it, making little room for the other occupants. The Captain was the last to exit, leaving the pirates in the cell to follow. Before they could though, he turned to face them. His mere presence stopped them in their tracks, and the elderly Sawk hobbled towards the front of the crowd.

“Does our agreement still stand?” the Captain asked.

The Sawk grinned once more, “Well, it was your crew that opened the door.”

“Then it’s settled,” and the Captain moved out of the way.

The movements of the ship became awkward, a sign that we were mere minutes away from docking with land. The pirates stood at the door, waiting for the signal from their leader.

“My crew will lead the way, out of obligation for our escape. We just need some…information.”

He needn’t say more. “The armory is one floor above,” I relayed.

“Excellent, you’ll have to be patient with me though. I am an old Pokémon, although my crew will be far ahead of me, I’ll have to go at my own pace.”

“Stay behind me then, our side of the bargain,” the Captain replied.

There was no need for planning, the pirates already knew of The Crouse and its location. If things went according to plan, we would have control of both ships before we even touched the port.

With that, the raid had begun.

 


	8. The Raid

I met with a sailor I knew long ago, one who was as similar to me as I to him. He told me a secret he carried for decades, a conversation half his age.

“Lieutenant Vernon, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Y-yes, Captain?”

“In the last hour of the journey to port, I want you on guard duty with the prisoners. Make up a lie, and tell it to them.”

“Sir?”

“Then, when we are nearing port, I want you to ‘drop’ your key in the cell and leave the ship.” He handed the young lad a purse that jingled with each sway, a sizable fee. “You said you never had a life to go back to right? Then make one at port, and stay far away from the peninsula.”

 

**Chapter Eight: The Raid**

With the flick of a finger, the Sawk’s order was given. The thieves took off down the corridor, the darkness ahead masking their attack. One by one the sleeping soldiers woke up, immediately being dragged out of their bunks and knocked out cold. Unlike the several groups I had seen before, the thieves were thoroughly disorganized. Rather than attacking as a group, they acted rather sporadically. Each of them held their own traits and moves, some favored theirs more than others, some didn’t even know how to use moves and just used their appendages. No matter the case though, they were a force to be reckoned with. Their randomness was their strength, something that no opponent could read or prepare for.

 Nevertheless, the guards were defeated faster than anyone could anticipate. A few were harmed a bit too harshly, the ones who put up too much of a struggle. Ten of them were out in a few seconds, in a minute there would be fifty down. An entire company would be gone in less than a minute. The sneak attack was efficient, disturbingly efficient.

The Pokémon upstairs were already alerted, the fighting from below woke most of them awake. They had little time to arm themselves though, as the thieves had already began their accent to the second floor. The attack had started up once again, as the thieves kept their strongest Pokémon in the front for cover. The smaller ones would take up offensive stances from the back, still readily attacking from long range. They had left behind a trail of destruction, a room full of injury and defeat. The walls were strewn with the faint traces of blades, blood, and burnt cinder. All the while the elder moved slowly, limping on his cane for support.

“Five of you stay with our guest,” the Captain commanded. “The rest of you on me!”

The closer we got to the stairs, the louder the battle became. The shouts and demands ran through the wood, vibrating with the noise of a thousand voices. The difference between the two sides was ambiguous, each yell sounding no different than the last.

“Get to the armory!”

“They’ve pushed too hard, we’re cornered!”

“It’s a flank, flank!”

“Charge through, fill the gaps!”

“Take that over there! Take it downstairs!”

“Keep them on the defensive!”

I was among the first to climb up the stairs. My foot shook as I felt the first step below me. Any Pokémon, large or small would have hesitated on that step. Yet with the shout of the Captain, we continued. In groups of three we ascended, the sound of the floorboards masking our numbers. We met with at least a hundred sailors in front of us. The thieves had pushed down the corridor, already nearing the armory’s entrance. A few shots had already been fired, the remnants of Gravelerocks sparked through the air, a sign that only a few had the time to arm themselves. The entire company closed in around the group, yet they remained steady. Their outline continued to move, they continued to push forward. They pushed closer to the armory, taking the attention of the entire enemy crew.

“Take the left corridor!’’ Jonah commanded. “Stop the flank!”

Only a few had the opportunity to spot us, and within moments we had already tackled them out of the fight. The enemy had no idea they had already been routed, as they continued to fight against the small number of unstoppable criminals. Yet compared to them, we were harmless. We did nothing more than knock them out, using our bluntest of moves to cut them down quickly. Meanwhile the thieves were hacking and clawing their way at flesh and blood, eager to make a quick enemy. If we were merely being dragged to prison, then what would happen to them? If they had always been as brutal as right now, would they be locked away forever? Executed maybe?

Dozens of the enemy crew rushed from behind, not even attacking but dragging their fallen comrades up to the first floor. This is how our original push should have gone, the morale of a few crushing the defense of the many. The enemy had already began to fall away from the thieves as well, retreating back up to the first floor alongside their crewmates. Our crew tied up the ones who had surrendered in our little corner of the ship, although the thieves were dismayed that we refused them to continue beating the prisoners.

Even more footsteps scrambled around above us. The shrill calls of a desperate captain rang through the air, the Typhlosion gave an order that would put us on the defensive. “Get the weapons from The Crouse! They’re in our armory, use their weapons!”

“Grab the weapons and the ammo, thorns and spikes!” the thieves shouted. “Push for the other ship, the privateer!” The order didn’t even need to be given. They had already begun to crawl into the armory, stealing the weapons that had been hidden away for a more trustworthy crew. They began to push from cover to cover as the enemy began their attempt to counterattack. The thieves’ push had been slowed to a crawl. They were now on the defensive, and their only option was to keep fighting. They just had to hold their line, replacing anyone who fell. Those who couldn’t get their hands on anything better just used the items on their own, throwing them across the room like the old explorers would have. Yet slowly, ever slowly, they pushed forward towards the stairs. Each minute of battle that dragged on made them even stronger. Each enemy that fell just made them less remorseful.

Borat grabbed the Captain by the shoulders, pulling him to the side. “Jonah, we can’t trust these Pokémon! Look what they’re doing, they’re murderers!”

“And we’re not?”

“We had standards before this!”

The Captain’s voice remained bitter, striking the Quartermaster with a look I had never seen him give before. “They’re more reliable than you.” He walked back to our crew, still trying to keep low from stray fire. “We push to the first floor, surprise them like we did before!”

We rushed for the staircase, praying that the enemy would be too slow to attack. Our newly acquired allies read this, and began to suppress the enemy even harder. Within moments we had already began the climb into the first floor, knocking them out senselessly just like before. With each enemy sailor that fell, another one of our own could continue onwards. Within a few motions we had already armed ourselves to the teeth and continued to battle onwards, cowering away into the corridors for cover.  

The enemy was unrelenting, what was just a hundred felt like a thousand. They began their own suppression, stopping us from ever peeking out. It seemed like the projectiles would never end, but they did. With one strong lurch to the left, the ship’s momentum stopped. Everything on board, the cargo, the crew, and ourselves lurched from their normality. The entire ship shimmied to the right, everything flew off the shelves or was battered against the floor. Nearly every Pokémon onboard that I could see was flung from their hiding spots, alongside myself of course. Although shocking, the reasoning behind the lurch was not a mystery.

The Gallant had finally docked.

Echoes rang through the ship, the enemy crew was relaying something their captain had commanded, or maybe something they decided amongst themselves. Different calls from different Pokémon blew invisible holes in their ranks. Each cry or command withered their strength in some way or another. They were keen on offing themselves for us.

“Back off! Back to The Crouse, we’re taking her out of port!”

“No, it’s not safe! Retreat to the port, we’re letting each of them go!”

The enemy had begun to splinter, with the remnants of their crew either running for the docks or The Crouse.

“Damnit!” the Captain roared as he grabbed my arm. “Sid! Get down there and tell those bastards to start pushing again!” He composed himself, thinking purely on the situation at hand. “Blow up the armory.”

“What?”

“Don’t ask questions! If they take our ship we blow up their armory!”

I took off running back down the stairs. Even if I didn’t get a straight answer, I knew what he was up to. The most valuable thing on this ship was that armory, and the enemy was planning on two fronts as well. Whether or not they had splintered, they still posed a threat. If they took our ship then the act of destroying their own equipment was a necessary sendoff. On the other hand, if these bastards were planning to retreat to the docks, they could just wait us out as long as they wished. Something didn’t add up, and I started to think that maybe they were doing both on purpose.

“Hey!” I shouted. My breath felt like it was on fire as I ran back down the corridor. “My Captain wants you guys to start pushing up again!”

“What for?” one argued.

“Because, they’re about to undock The Crouse! They’re gonna get away with our own ship, now move!”

They didn’t need more explanation. With my command, they started down the hallway, taking as much ammo and weaponry as they could carry. I began to sprint again, before stopping in my tracks. Damnit, I hadn’t thought this through, neither had the Captain. I’d need another set of arms to help me out, I’d waste too much time on my own. I stumbled back to the stairs, the thieves already rushing out to the first floor. The ship almost seemed deserted at this point, but in the distance I could see my crewmates holding the line.

“Timburr!” I screamed. There was no response, so I yelled again. The crowd dissipated a little to let a certain little Pokémon through. He squeezed his way through our crewmates before shouting back to me. I couldn’t quite hear it, but I waved him over. He understood the situation almost instantly, following me back towards the rear of the ship.

“You’re gonna blow it up?” he asked. This was the second time he did so, the statement didn’t quite register with him the first time.

“Yup, Captain’s orders.”

“But, can’t we just take the stuff? What good is it to blow it up? We got places to be Sid we can’t just-”

“I don’t know,” I shot back. “I’m just following my damn orders!” It took me a moment to calm down, the past few months began to pound down upon me right at that moment. “I-I’m sorry, let’s just finish what we gotta do.”

He shrugged, surrendering to what the Captain had told me. The fighting could still be heard, albeit muffled by the wood surrounding us. Yet down in the hold it was absolutely silent. The only thing keeping the place from being completely deserted was the injured crew that were strewn about.

“God,” Timburr shivered. “They went absolutely overboard, what did the thieves do?”

“Can’t focus on that now, help me with this door.”

It was jammed shut. The fighting had broken the lock, and amidst the chaos someone had broken the hinges. Yet with one good pull from the both of us, the door fell off easily. Timburr was still a scrawny character, and there was no sign that he’d evolve into his larger form anytime soon. Yet he could hold his own weight. He was stronger than I was, by at least five margins.

“Right,” I said, putting myself back on track. “We need gunpowder!”

The room was lined with anything you could ever need for a battle. There was enough equipment here to clear several dungeons ten times over! Each wall was layered with muskets and wands. The entire place was filled to the brim with steel, iron, and enchanted wood. Yet there wasn’t a single trace of gunpowder, not under the tables or behind the walls. The room was absolutely devoid of the explosive stuff.

“Where is the gunpowder?” I panicked. “This is an armory damnit, it’s supposed to be here!”

“Well, maybe they moved it? They could have anticipated this you know.”

“Yea but when? We’ve been locked up for a week! They couldn’t have just moved it all for that, it had to have been recently!”

There was no other spot on the ship where they could’ve hid the powder. There were no other spots on the ship that were made to hold such cargo, and anywhere else made it vulnerable from enemy fire. So where could they have hid it?

Feet shuffled towards the broken door, with the sounds of the crew shouting. Timburr and I ducked into cover. We huddled behind the crates that were strewn about the room. He looked over at me in a panic, as I did to him.

“Alright I’m here, I’m here!” the stranger shouted. He was yelling to a Pokémon from across the ship. I didn’t recognize him at all. “It’s all still here! Ditch it, why?”

A muffled reply ordered him away from the armory. I shuffled to the doorway to get a good look at him, but I couldn’t get a good idea what kind of Pokémon he was. His armor covered up most of his form. His companions were still at the other end of the ship, dragging something down into the third floor of the hold. It was obvious that these were the guards who fled to the docks during our push, they had just now returned to the ship for something. From the doorway, I could now make a bit of sense of the panicked conversation between them.

“No, no one was there...”

“…plenty on The Crouse.”

“...into the hold…are you sure?”

I cursed in frustration, I still couldn’t figure out what they were doing. There was no time to find out anyways, I still had a job to do. I motioned to Timburr, he followed me silently as we crept back into the hold.

“What are they doing?” he whispered.

“I don’t know, but we’ve got to get back to The Crouse. She had plenty of gunpowder right?”

“Yea but we can’t just walk back over to her. We’d be out in the open for too long…” He puzzled himself, before he finally found his solution. “The window!” he shouted, pointing to the closest one on our left. It was small, but just large enough for both of us. There was a considerable gap between the two ships though. “Damn, we just need a rope Sid!”

“It’s too far for either of us to throw,” I retorted. Just then, a thought came back to me. “But I know what works!” I lunged my arm out the window, emancipating all my energy into my palm. My vines extended, aiming for the latches on The Crouse’s side. It kept gliding through the air, I kept it straight as best as I could. Just a bit further…

I did it! The vine snatched onto the metal latch, twirling itself around it. I tugged as hard as I could, testing my own strength. Sure enough, it was stronger than any knot and was sturdier than your common rope. I scoffed back to Timburr as I climbed out the window, “You can thank my grass-like appendages later!”

“Bastard!” he laughed. “What about me?”

“Hop on my shoulders, I’m gonna swing across.” There was sort of an awkward moment between the two of us as he climbed through my legs and onto my back, weighing me down in unanticipated areas around my body, but soon enough he was clinging to my head for dear life.

“Crap, I’ve never liked these tall heights!” he shivered. 

“Well you shouldn’t have been a sailor! You ready?”

He gave me a quick tap on the shoulder, and I took off. The vine was twisting around my hand, one final precaution if I lost my grip. We swerved like a bird through the air, the sheer force of the wind making my eyes water. Timburr almost enjoyed the thrill of it, before realizing he was still too high up for his own liking.

We were mere seconds away from colliding with The Crouse. I pulled my weight up, preparing my legs for the biggest shock they would ever endure. I shut my eyes tight. My body trembled with the force of impact, but no real harm was done. It was easier than I thought it would be. I opened my eyes again, and we were now dangling from The Crouse.

“The latch!” Timburr cried out. “Climb for the latch!”

As he commanded, I began to climb. I kept myself straight and stiff, pulling myself up inch by inch. I kept a grip with my feet. My long claws digging as best they could into the wood. My body didn’t ache as it would before, I had gotten used to this sort of extension. Before I knew it, I was at the top of the vine. I gripped the ship with all of my appendages, I was beginning to slip and I panicked under the pressure. There was no way out, I held on for my life as Timburr leaned his weight onto my shoulder—extending himself to grab the latch and open it for the both of us.

After a moment of frustration, he finally got it open. He jumped inside without hesitation. My body began to tremble again, I felt an exhaustion I hadn’t felt in ages. Had I been abandoned here?

“C’mon!” Timburr screamed. “Grab my hand!”

I stretched myself one last time, pushing myself towards his frame. I began to fall. The world spun around me. With just a second to spare I had latched onto the window, my other hand gripping his. He pulled as hard as he could, my body being heavier than anything he normally lifted.

“Damnit, get in here!”

With one final pull and a push with my feet, he threw me into the room. The immense power from his arms almost sent me flying, as I tumbled for a moment before getting to my feet.

“There,” he panted. “Now you owe me!”

Our escapades would be cut short, as the sounds of the ever-expanding battle rang through the ship. The little moments of joy we shared would have to wait for a while.

“We’re on the first floor of the hold, right?” I asked Timburr. He nodded, reaffirming my query. The Crouse was not only the same in size, but of interior as well. She held three levels of her hold, same as The Gallant. Only exception being the first two floors were dedicated to the cannons, while the bottom was our only place to bunk.

“I don’t wanna disturb what we’ve got left here,” Timburr stated. “But there’s an extra stash of powder in the bunking downstairs. We can haul that back to the other ship and blow whatever the hell our ‘lovely’ Captain wants.” He paused, giving me a sly look. “And yes, we’ll think about getting it over there later!”

I jumped down the ship’s set of stairs, while Timburr slid down the banister for some extra speed. Immediately after crashing into the floor, we were met with fire. A stray spike scratched me, right by one of my leaves. I didn’t have time to take note of the pain. I scrambled for cover, finding myself next to our new friends and a familiar face. Skoro had already made her way back to the Crouse with the thieves, and a few of our own had made it onboard too. I leaned over to a viewport, the Captain’s group was still fighting over the boarding ramp. Skoro’s little assortment had to have been quick to get here by now.

No matter the case, I just wanted to get my demolitions job over with. I motioned for Timburr to follow.

“Hold up I just thought of something.” He didn’t want to budge, so I grabbed his arm. “Wait a sec, I wanna be a smartass!”

He yelled to Skoro, “Hey, what’s it like fighting your dad?”

“Huh?”

“I said what’s it like fighting your dad? You know…the Typhlosion-“

“You scrawny little turd, this isn’t the time for a fucking joke!” Her reaction put a huge grin on his face, as I gave up and just dragged him down one more floor.

I was getting frustrated with the little bastard. “You’re wasting my time you-“

This wasn’t a stash. Either Timburr was lying about the amount, or the enemy had just moved it there. Either way, there was more than a ‘stash.’ There was at least two tons worth of explosives in the sleeping quarters.

“Shit, I don’t remember sleeping next to this.”

“You can joke when we’re out of this mess!” I grunted. “Now damnit, what’s all this for? Is it ours?”

“Well let me check the packaging…Yea, about a year old so it’s our own. From the nameless island too.”

There was something terribly wrong with this picture. We usually kept the gunpowder alongside the cannons. Something caught my eye, a small glimmer in the dark. Was that what I thought it was?

“Get me a match,” I shouted. “Go, get some matches!”

The little guy scrambled around the room for a moment, going through the other crewmembers’ stuff before realizing he remembered who smoked on the ship. He ran back with a carton of the tiny things.

I motioned him over to me. “Light one for me, but don’t you dare drop it.”

He tossed the package aside, “You know what, I don’t need it then.” His hands were shaking, so in a sense I was glad he dropped the idea. Instead, he strained himself, focusing all his energy into the palm of his hand. A light emanated from his hand, extending itself across the entire room. Flash, a move that wouldn’t last long, but would give me enough time to inspect the mess.

My suspicion was right. In the corner of my eye I had seen something. Call it luck or fate, but I saw something I feared, something I needed reassurance on— a grouping of strings in the side of the room. Now, what was here was as clear as daylight. It wasn’t string, it was a set of fuses! Each and every one of the barrels that had been thrown in here were stuffed with fuses. The entire thing was rigged to blow! I followed them, as they swerved left and right before meeting together. They moved up and through the-

“The viewport!” I belted. The fuses continued through the window, dangling over the ocean before meeting the other viewports of The Gallant. Wait, not viewports— holes! The bastards had drilled holes into the side of their ship for the fuses! For what purpose though? There had to be a reason behind this, some sort of conspiracy against us? It was now obvious that the enemy had prepared to split up, they had planned from the very start to confuse our expectations. They probably never had intentions of leaving with The Crouse anyway, the wires and the holes implied a larger picture.  

“What’s going on?” Timburr panicked.

I completely ignored his question, focusing on something that stuck out to me. “Timburr, this is a Coalburner ship right?” He nodded. “And we’re on the third floor, just like the one they have. So do they have a storage compartment like…”

I didn’t even think it over this time. I grabbed one of the smaller barrels, hoisting it over to Timburr.

“Hey! What’s this for?”

“Meet me at the armory!” I screamed, and I took off without another word.

I had lied straight through my teeth. The barrel was just a distraction for the little guy. He had said it himself, this was a perfect time to think, no? For what I was about to do, he would have slowed me down anyways. I needed to get back to that ship, to see where the hell those fuses went and get rid of them!

Sneaking my way back to the deck, I stopped for a moment. The image of the town captivated me. It seemed like nothing had changed. No, back to focus. The Captain continued to fight on The Gallant, hoping to keep whoever was left away from The Crouse. His line was a shield for me. I ran past with my body as low as I could muster it. One last look was all I wanted. Treasure Town, I hadn’t seen it in…How long was it, three years, four? No, please! I begged myself to continue on, and so I did.

 I climbed back down the steps I had escaped from. The enemy crew were still huddled in here, moving goods around and tending to their wounded. In the moment of the fight I think they forgot who I was. Maybe my disguise still worked, or maybe they just didn’t care about a singular prisoner. Either way, not a single one of them wished to fire a cannon. Nobody wanted that kind of trouble with the townsfolk. If anyone remembered that it would probably be me.

I descended another floor. Still, the guards were too occupied to notice me. On the final floor, it was absolutely empty. The injured had already been taken upstairs, and only the stains of battle remained. As I examined the staircase, I noticed the latch to their storage area. It was small, barely noticeable without light. I didn’t think it was even a storage room, maybe a secret passage or something.

I climbed down into the bowels of the ship. Here, the floor moved in correlation with the waves. The room was the epicenter of all that energy, you could hardly keep your balance. Still, I stumbled through the darkness. The only shreds of light coming from the holes I had wanted to investigate. I needed to find where exactly the fuses had led to. If only the room hadn’t remained so dark.

“Need a light?” a deathly familiar voice asked. A deathly chill ran up my spine, as whoever it was struck a warm flame from their mouth. The Typhlosion’s face was revealed in the light. A sly grin slid across his cheeks that portrayed something beyond whit, perhaps madness even. It never faltered as he moved the tiny flame to a lantern. It was as if he thought of me as a joke. “Well,” he began. “This is it then!”

The lantern sprung to light, finally revealing the interior. Gunpowder, barrels and barrels of gunpowder weighed the ship down in all corners of the room. Light and heavy, thick or thin, there was more here than the entire ship could bare. I had even tripped on one before, when I had stumbled through the dark. They were all carrying the same fuse. They all met at the center of the room, where it twisted and twirled around for a good while before ending at the feet of the Pokémon before me.

“What the hell is this?” I gasped.

“Well,” the fire-type smirked. “What does it look like?” He looked around desperately, almost wanting to check what it was himself. “Both of our ships are rigged to blow. With the way these bastards set the fuses, yours will go up in flames before mine. Should be quite a show, no?”

He snickered to himself. “You know, that captain of yours really is something! If the prick couldn’t get out’ta that cell on his own, then what happened anyways?” I didn’t know he expected an answer, “Tell me!”

“A guard,” I stirred. “A guard came and gave us the key. Out of revenge…”

“Ha! I knew it, the bastard had turned against us!” In his anger he grabbed the lantern, ready to strike it against the floor and start this countdown. I motioned for him to calm down, my heart leaped harder than it ever had before. Instead, he just twirled around, walking towards the other end of the storage compartment. On a moderately sized barrel sat a flask of a drink that was unknown to me. Immediately after chugging it, I could smell the raunchiness in his breath, even from the other side of the room. Even if I didn’t know it’s content, it was obvious he would become drunk over it.

“You know,” he snapped. “You know…It was supposed to be an easy job, nipping you. Just snatch you guys up and put you wherever he wanted. Hell, I even made a game out of it, you saw that yourselves. But the bastard just had to complicate things. Force them near the island he said, two birds with one stone. But then you pricks had to land on it, rub your fucking feet all over it, taking the job that was meant for my ship! Now that bastard, the Hypno, he won’t even give me the light of day over that little mishap. He had the cymbals sent off himself, used one of his own birds to send the damn things. They arrived at that guild before any of us even reached port! He’s probably back at home too, trying to get credit for something that was my work!”

He began to grin again. “No matter now. Whatever Hypno had planned for you is long gone. He’s betrayed me, and his ‘Country.’ Same one your captain betrayed, the one that doesn’t even give a shit about me. All that’s left in this world is the fuse, and this light.” His arm lunged into the air.

“No, don’t!”

The lantern slid back onto its hook, set back where it should have been. He almost laughed, as he held his breath and let his back begin to shimmer. With one grunt the flames emerged, igniting every single fuse in the room. “Two minutes you bastard!” he snarled.

“You piece of shit, you’re going to blow us all to smithereens!”

“Not all of us, just you, and your filthy captain there too!” Before I could even move, he began to lunge for me. He crashed into me, his weight shifting the bones within my body. He grabbed me by the neck, tossing me across the room while he ran for the hatch. My body tumbled over the pieces of twine, before resting in front of a fuse that continued to spark down the path it was set.  

“There,” he sniffed. “No one escapes this.”

He left the room, not even caring to warn the rest of his crew. He really was going to let them all burn. He made one crucial error though, one that he would have messed up even without his drunken state. He didn’t know how to knock someone out. I got up, my head still pounding. Nonetheless, I didn’t think I had a concussion. There was no blood, and all he really did was stun me for a few moments. Poor bastard was probably still in the ship. I was going to find the coward, to rip the lungs right out of his chest if I could. My blood boiled for a moment, but stopped. Something turned in my head, something I was supposed to remember. It was a two, but what was two? Two…two minutes?

“Two minutes!” I screamed, running back to the ladder. The panic in my voice had nulled my dizziness. I was wide awake now. I ran back up the stairs, the enemy crew now paying good attention to my distress.

“Get off the ship!” I shouted. “She’s rigged to blow! Get off it now!” Maybe it was the shrill desperation in my voice, but they all listened. With the injured on their backs and a rush in their feet, they climbed the stairs. When there was no more room on the stairs, they began to jump from the windows. I began to hear the commotion on the first floor as well. The crew seemed to dissipate faster than they had in the battle.

My mind wandered for a moment, wondering what I should have done next. There was no way I could get rid of the fuses, there were just too many on The Gallant. But what about The Crouse? I had no time to waste, by the time I ran back to the ship it would’ve been too late. So I rushed back down to the cellar, clawing my way towards the holes they had created. Damn, the fuses had already crossed the threshold! I tore one open just enough to see through. The sparks had already crossed through the ship I was on, already traveling across the sea towards the ship they intended to blow.

“Timburr!” I screeched. As much as my lungs begged me to stop, I had to relay as much as I could back to the ship. “Timburr!” I couldn’t see a single soul. There wasn’t any sort of hint that my message had been heard. I had to take the risk, I put all my faith in whoever could hear me from The Crouse. “Cut the strings! She’s going to blow, cut them all!”

I panted with every breath, the stress finally weighing me down. I lunged myself back up the ladder towards the stairs. How much time did I have left, did the Typhlosion really mean two minutes? My heart was racing, my chest pounded as I heaved myself upward. I didn’t want to be caught in the blast.

I finally met the captain on the deck, confusion running wild throughout his team. “What’s going on Sid?”

“The ships going to blow, both of them! He rigged them all to blow!”

His expression ran to a mixture of sheer terror and anger. We both ran over to the edge of the ship, watching the fuses continue to spark towards The Crouse.

“Those strings?” He didn’t need an answer. “Get the aviation team down there, anyone! Just cut those ropes!” He demanded the crew back to their full attention, as the world began to spin around the fuses that decided our fate. “Get on the wheel, get the ship out of port!”

Whether it was friend or foe, whoever was on the other deck did as was commanded. Neither party wanted to blow up, and we all seemed to abandon the useless fighting in order to escape. There was no time to waste now, just about a minute remained I thought. There were now hundreds of Pokémon, all jumping into the sea or running for the docks. The boarding ramp fell down into the sea as The Crouse began to abandon its position. Just a few pokemon were able to pull the sails. Their moves began to flare up as they used whatever was available to force the mainsail towards the wind. The Captain began to abandon his post as well, running towards the end of the docks alongside his crew.

I almost chased after him, but something drew my attention. Damnit, where was Vern? He was knocked out before, was he still down there? Seconds turned to hours, as the clock in my head ticked forevermore towards the boom. I ran back downstairs again, making my way back through the third floor, through the wall of destruction and the broken wood. The door to the cells were still open. Had someone already gotten him? Would I die in a fireball for nothing?

He was still there, still knocked out cold. The cells hadn’t changed one bit, neither had the room. Nobody had even checked for the poor Grovyle. I was running out of time. He was too heavy to lift, so I dragged him as best as I could. Seconds turned into flashes, there was no time to drag him all the way to the top of the ship. Damnit, I was trapped!

I would have to bash my way off the ship! The walls around me were already charred, the still remnants of the battle that first took place. I dropped the Grovyle, bashing myself against the wall. I cut at it with leaves, tackled myself against it, even clawed away at it. Whatever it took, whatever would chip it away before I was too late. I continued to bang against the wall, before one final hit sent chunks flying. The outside world was finally visible again. With a few more pulls I was able to stretch more of the wood out of the way. I picked up the unconscious sailor, a feat that took the most of my strength. He weighed just as much as me, genetics almost made him a perfect clone. I stuck his feet through the hole, just big enough for his body.

“Wake up! I’m not letting you drown here!” With one final push he fell out of the hole, careening towards the water just a few feet below. I jumped through as well, the cold water hitting me like a brick. Still, I endured it to my fullest extent. Vernon was now coming too, yelping in the water as it almost entered his lungs. He gasped for air on the surface, still shaken from the sudden awakening.

“Swim to the docks!” I yelled. He took off without words, still putting together the past hour in his head. The water lurched and spun as a storm began to brew. Thunder could be heard in the distance, just far enough to understand what was on the horizon.  

One final extension of myself revealed just how much I had pushed my body, as the tendons in my arms begged me to stop. I couldn’t though, I needed as much distance between me and the ship. I was right behind Vernon, as he began to pull himself up onto the docks. Before I could do anything else, a wave of heat flashed over me. Within a second, the boom began to emanate in my ears. I turned around to see the first explosion from the ship, then the second and third. Then the entire ship caught aflame. One final fireball, the accumulation of all the gunpowder reached up from the depths of the sea and illuminated the night sky. It seemed as bright as the sun, as the mere shock of the event shook and broke every window in it’s radius. The entire ship was now in flames, not even the storm could quench the inferno. As rain began to pour, it only enraged the fire even more. If The Gallant went with a bang, then it was now leaving us with a whimper. I just watched it, the sea pushing me left and right as I bobbed up and down, my body growing ever colder. I could see The Crouse in the distance. The mere image of it meant it had survived against the fuses. They had been cut in time, and probably with only seconds to spare.

“Hey!” Vern called. His hand reached back to the ocean, with his form being caught in the light of the fire. I caught myself on it, as he helped pull me up onto the docks. The rain only grew in power, as the streets began to flood with water. “We’re gonna catch a cold out here,” he muttered. He pulled me towards the buildings, into a small alleyway where the rain wouldn’t fall. He fell backwards into the wall, sliding himself down to the floor. As we both sat there, gasping for our lives, all he could do was watch the ship sink and burn. 

He lowered his head, still taking in what he could from the surrounding world. “You…” he shuttered. “You saved my life, why?”

“Because you saved ours,” I replied. I was absolutely shivering, the cold seas were still haunting me. Yet to him, it was nothing. Not a single drop of water got to him, I guess he was too shocked to notice.

He got up, pulling himself towards me and lifting a hand for me to grasp. “You’re crew will be waiting,” he valiantly said, pulling me to my feet. We both noticed how the town began to light up, as pokemon far and wide began to crowd around to see just what had happened. “I haven’t even begun to understand just what happened on board, but I don’t think it’s a good time for that.” He put my hand in his, placing his other one on top. Our claws met, in what any other species would call a handshake. In a sense, we were brothers in genetics. What bonded us as a species is what drew us to the actions that took place that night, and the mere encounter we shared would last a lifetime. “Maybe someday we’ll meet again, and we’ll have the time to sort this thing out.”

“W-wait,” I urged. “What about your job, lieutenant and all that? Where are you going?”

“I don’t know,” he stated, starting to clear the distance between us. “But maybe this is the start of something new. Besides, that title is long gone for me.” With that, he rushed towards the crowd that began to emerge, dissipating within it--as if he was a part of it himself. Perhaps we would meet up again, only time would tell us that. I could already tell the crowd would be a bad sign for me, as past anxieties began to spring up again. The rain was the least of my problems now, and I had already lost sight of my group.

It didn’t take long to notice them though. They were still beginning to regroup at the other end of the pier, still trying to make sense of things themselves. It didn’t take long to see them start to dissipate. They began to sprint for the forest to the east, an area I remembered all too well. There would be quite some time before the crowd would take notice of me, and because of the vast distance between me and the rest of the crew, I decided to walk back. With my head held low, daydreaming over my encounter with Vern and the overarching moments that had just taken place. I began to think back to a moment in time, when this place held a value I probably wouldn’t forget. I made one final gesture, one final peek behind my back—hoping to spot the Grovyle one final time. It wasn’t possible of course, he was probably on the other side of town by now. No matter the case, he had nothing to go back to. This was the start of a brand new life for him, just as it was for me almost half a decade ago. 

 

-

 

The forest became a welcoming sight, as I was finally able to get some decent shelter from the storm. Raindrops still fell violently, almost as if a typhoon was on the horizon. The canopy provided decent cover from the storm. Whatever remained of daylight finally shed away, as the true colors of the night shined themselves through the sparse holes in the clouds. At the time, I was still affected by the bright flashes of The Gallant’s fiery departure. Soon enough, my eyes would adjust to the peaceful blues and blacks of the nighttime air.

A few more minutes of walking in the dark revealed the group ahead. I could hear their busy noises, as they busied themselves with whatever crisis came to us next. Pokémon huddled around each other for warmth, this storm affected all who were not physically ready for it. The few ground and rock types we kept around were shaking from their watery encounter, a sign that not all of us were truly fit for this type of work. Doc sat underneath a set of thick trees. He looked sick, and his tail emitted less light that it should have. Perhaps it was just his old age, as there was a Charizard standing in the middle of the rain completely unaffected. He was one of the thieves no doubt, I doubt I’d forget such a large crewmember otherwise. He had nerves of steel, not a single drop affected the massive flame that kept him alive. It looked like he almost enjoyed the water, something that reminded him of his mortality. I looked back at Doc to see him staring at the larger Pokémon. He looked up at the other in some sort of fear or regret, perhaps an image of what he should have become. Doc was old now, there were no more signs of him evolving ever again. Yet the Pokémon he looked at was still large, strong, and youthful.

Familiar voices shook me away from Doc’s attention. As much as I would’ve liked to stay and comfort the old doctor, a more prevalent issue arose. I knew a secret that no other soul around here could guess. It had to be more important than whatever the Captain suspected. If it wasn’t, than I wouldn’t know what was wrong with him.

The conversation the Captain was caught in was begging to be heard. As I drew closer to earshot, I could take note of the Pokémon that surrounded him. A three-way debate was ensuing between the Quartermaster, the Sawk, and the Captain. The Quartermaster was busy showing the both of them their previous plans, how we had attempted to get back control of The Crouse and the enemy ship. There was a look of forsaken humility on his face. The words Jonah had told him on The Gallant had cut deep, and in his position all he could do was stay in his place and take whatever came next.

“So you found the Cymbals?” the Captain continued.

“Yes,” Borat replied. “It was at the end of the dungeon. It lead us straight into the volcano, where we found the cymbals, as well as…the legendary.”

“Groudon?”

“Well…maybe, no one could tell whether it was an illusion or not. All we know is that it tried to make itself look invincible and it failed. We didn’t have a chance to think about it, as the first eruption started if you remember.”

“You said you lost the cymbals, right?”

“No, not…technically. Sid and the girl were separated during the eruption. They had they cymbals, and as far as I know they used them to escape.” Borat pointed to me, finally noting that I was there. “He should be able to tell you, not me.”

The Captain turned around, motioning me into their inner circle. All the while the Sawk had not moved a muscle, simply listening to the conversation between the duo.

“You were the one who got the cymbals?” the Captain asked me.

“Y-yea,” I shivered in response. In the heat of the moment I had forgotten that I was the first to touch the instruments. It was a thought that put a lot more confidence in my voice. “Skoro and I were trapped in a cave-in after Borat and Timburr lead us back into the dungeon. It was our only way back to the island, there was no other exit in the volcano.”

“But the powers,” Jonah butted. “I don’t care about how you escaped, I mean I do but…What could the cymbals do?”

“I don’t fully know, it’s possible I just discovered one of it’s many traits. But, it’s like a shovel or something. I clashed them together, and the wall just imploded on itself. It disintegrated, if that’s the right way of putting it. It was like an arc, made a hole that was three times as big as me. When we had finally broken through to the surface, it just closed itself up. Like nothing had had been carved out before.”

“Could it take out a ship if you wanted?” he demanded.

“Maybe, I mean if they can destroy dirt and rock then they probably could do something to wood.”

“Damnit, and we lost all that?”

It was at that moment that my secret would no longer remain hidden. “Well…not exactly.”

I proceeded to explain just what had happened to me on The Gallant, how Timburr and I had discovered the insanely large amount of gunpowder in our own ships hold, and how I discovered the Typhlosion’s plot to destroy both ships.

“Thanks to you, I think The Crouse is still in one piece,” the Captain acknowledged. “I was able to get our ship’s Honchkrow to relay back and forth. The ship’ll stay away from port until we need her. But this still doesn’t explain what you meant when you said the cymbals were here.”

“That’s just it though, they are!” They were all confused, so I elaborated further. “The ship’s captain, the Typhlosion, he got the crew to rig The Crouse. I don’t know how he got them to rig their own ship, but they were going to blow up The Gallant with all of us on it!”

“And they did, which is why we jumped overboard right?”

“Right! But down in the storage compartment, he was getting himself drunk or something. He told me the Hypno had betrayed him, that the cymbals were already at the guild and that the psychic had betrayed the entire peninsula.”

“Yea,” Borat butted in. “Do we know if he’s lying or not though.”

“He couldn’t be,” I replied. “He was clearly enraged by the Hypno, would he really lie in a state like that?”

 The Captain thought it over, still looking at the plans Borat had made during our island retreat. “If he was upset and wanted to get revenge, or even if he was lying, it’s a risk we have to take.”

“Jonah…”

“We can’t pass this up Borat, either way this goes I’m still leading a charge into that place.”

“If it’s not there we’re just attacking them for nothing! We’ll get the Grass Continent on our backs alongside Hypno!”

“For god’s sake Borat, you heard it yourself. They were going to pass us off to the guild as prisoners. Now we know they’re working with Hypno, so if anything will prove a point it will be this.” He looked to me for a moment. “Besides, I have faith that the cymbals are there.”

For the first time in a while, the Sawk opened his mouth. “My crew owes you a lot for this rescue. So w’ever plan you have, we’re in, for a good price of course.”

“And that price would be?”

“A spot on your ship.”

“Didn’t we already agree to this?” the Captain persuaded. “You’re already one of us.” The Captain took a moment to reflect on the plan he had in his head. “Your troops have some reasonable knowledge of the town, right?”

“Perhaps I have a few…” the Sawk replied.

“Then get them to find us some explosives. Buy or steal them, I don’t care, just get them to me. We’ll use them alongside our crew that can dig.”

“We have the resources, we’ll get what you need.”

 Jonah turned to me once more. “You went inside the guild one time right?”

I nodded, “Yes, but that was at least a year ago.”

“Doesn’t matter, you stick close to me during our trek over there. I’m going to need your knowledge on the building. We’ll leave in an hour, so don’t go anywhere.”

“So we’ve agreed then?” Borat asked.

“I know you disagree with the plan Borat, might as well get your qualm out.”

“I don’t really care,” he sighed. “Whatever gets them off our backs the quickest.” He had the same expression he carried nearly a week ago, one of defeat or remorse.

The Captain took a moment to look the bear over, noting his submissive behavior before showing his acknowledgement. “Fine…” Our little assembly would separate, and I would find myself with a short amount of time to rest--something I hardly had time to even think about.

The rain began to disperse, but only by a short amount. The world finally seemed to feel calm for moment, at least for an hour before we would be dragged right back into action. I longed for a moment of rest, yet even relaxing would take an effort of myself. Doc was still sitting below his tree, still reflecting on something from before. Although his tail was till faint, its light began to radiate a little bit more—a welcomed sign that he was starting to feel better. I couldn’t tell whether he was still upset with me or not. Even during our stay in the naval cells, we never really had the opportunity to speak to each other. Yet now, it seemed like he was lonely. It had been a week since our last conversation, if you could call being knocked out a conversation that is.

“Come,” he beckoned. “Take a seat.”

I was a little apprehensive, “Are you still mad at me?”

“No, why would I be mad at you?”

“For taking Timburr into that volcano…”

“Oh, Sid that was a week ago. I already forgot about that. Although, now that you brought it up…” He put a pause to the conversation, giving me something I assumed was a glaring look. “No…no, I’m not mad at you, just disappointed.”

“Disappointed, over what?”

“Well why would you take him into there, you trusted him? I can understand that, it’s just…” He sighed, “I don’t know, I just made a promise to him is all. I don’t think you’d understand.”

“Well, maybe I would.”

Now he really cut me a glare, one that told me to shut up and leave the conversation hanging. Yet he continued to talk, seemingly taking back the little jab. “I made a promise to him, a short while ago when he joined the crew. He probably told you this already, but he has a family back home. That’s where most of his money goes. I promised him he’d stay safe, so he could get back to them in good shape.”

“Why’d you make it?”

“I don’t know, maybe I got attached to the guy. He’s still young, smaller than he should be for his age. He just needs someone to watch his back, but I’m starting to notice it’s you who’s doing that a lot more now.”

“Well…it wasn’t really a choice.”

“He doesn’t open up to a lot of Pokémon, so thank you for that, honestly. But I’m still apprehensive of it.”

“Why would you?”

“Call it a hunch, but it’s just a feeling I have. I don’t get you Sid. I can’t tell whether you actually care or if you’re just sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” He motioned for me to pick him up.

“Yea well, you can jab all you want. I’m still here for a while.”

“Which is why I’ve tried to make you see things the crew’s way,” he groaned as I propped him up. “You’re only reference point has been the Captain this entire trip, and you haven’t seen him like I have.”

“You’ve said this before Doc, so why don’t you make the effort? Complain to him yourself.”

“Because, he won’t listen to reason, at least from all of us. Maybe he would from his own kind, I don’t know. After he does, I’ll decide whether I’m leaving or not.” He looked around our encampment, “Depends on the kid too. Where is he by the way?”

“On The Crouse with Skoro and the rest of the gang.”

“The Crouse, as in the ship that didn’t explode?”

“Yea, you expected it to?”

“At this point, I hope they just toss it all overboard. After that mess, I’m sick of gunpowder.” He coughed, taking two blankets out of his bag and tossing one over his damp body. “Now, walk with me. Put that one above my tail and make sure it doesn’t get wet.”

“We’re not leaving for another hour.”

“I don’t care, I need to stretch my legs. I’ll feel better too.”

I didn’t attempt to argue with the Doctor. He was a stubborn old fool sometimes, but he was still a lot wiser than me. Somehow he had predicted that the sky would let up, and that the rain would cease for a while. He wanted to walk a short ways to the beach, reluctantly dragging me along with him. It was worth it though, as the air began to clear and the smell of salt filled our lungs. The sky let go of its cloudy formations, pushing them inland for its own sake. The dark blue sky was finally visualized in all its glory. In that moment, I think I payed attention to the stars more than I ever had in my life. They sparkled and shimmered in a way I could only see in my reoccurring dreams. If my eyes adjusted the right way, and no other light blinded my vision, I could make out the faint traces of a band of some sort—a gas that encaptivated the dots in the sky.

Doc seemed to be just as amazed as I was, but in a short amount of time he began to worry. Soon enough, he couldn’t hold what he thought to himself anymore. “Sid,” he began. “Do you think someone like me could get tired of their routine?”

“Huh?”

“I mean I’m a doctor, it’s what I like to do. I’ll never tire of that. But I’ve grown tired of being on a ship, I’ve been on them my entire life.”

“So what would you like to do then?”

“I’ve seen these seas at least ten times over, but I’ve never been on land for more than a few days at a time. I want to see the lands, the valleys and the deserts, I want to see the top of a mountain. I know I’m an old Pokémon now, but I’m still healthy enough to do it.”

“Is that why you were staring at the Charizard?”

“Yea, he just reminded me of it. I wouldn’t want to travel around here though, with the rain and the cold. Maybe a desert or something.” He stopped one last time to inspect the sky, before turning back to the camp.

“H-hey, we just got here!” I argued.

“Yea, and we’re gonna be late. It’s just the stars Sid, you’ll see them every night.”

“Not like this though…” After a few more seconds, I gave in. I wouldn’t want to leave the old guy alone, and besides, we had a mission. We always had a mission.

 

-

 

The sky began to dim again, as the clouds became murky and the rain began to drown us. This time, each step brought us through a puddle, and every other step just kept our feet damp. Once more I had to stay right next to the Doctor, keeping his tail dry from the storm above. Because of this, the Captain had to reluctantly follow suit. All he really wanted of me was a bit of knowledge of the terrain ahead, and when he got it he quickly jotted his way back to the front of the group.

It was a bit further down our path that the secondary group would split. They were just a handful of Pokémon, at least six or seven, but their job was important nonetheless. Like the captain had said, they would splinter off and head to the guild’s main entrance. From there, they would cause enough of a distraction to buy us some time to break in and rout the competition. If he wasn’t stuck on the ship at the time, I would have suggested for Timburr to tag along with them. I knew for a fact it would be a good opportunity for him, maybe even a little bit of a promotion. For what I knew of the guy, from Doc’s description and our current friendship as it was, he deserved it.

I knew what was waiting up ahead. Although there were many things I remembered from a few years ago, albeit a lot of them I didn’t want to remember, some were still useful. I could remember the dungeon to the east, how just a few short years before I arrived it had sprung up out of nowhere. It became a major problem for townsfolk, and it became the number one priority for the guild. If I had actually been brought on as staff, perhaps that’s where I would have been stuffed into. So for a moment, I was glad I became a privateer.

No matter the case though, whether it be a feral or a criminal taking refuge, the town would often have a stray one of them stumble into town. Though there were never any real physical reports of any deaths or trouble because of it, there were rumors. As far as I remembered, the guild was dangling by a rope because of them. Whether they were true or not didn’t matter, as the guild sent out enough patrols as it were. Both in daylight and the dark they walked through the forest. At the time, they could easily be made out in the dark. Their brightly lit lanterns revealed themselves, as well as the scarves around their appendages revealing their allegiance. They didn’t matter really. A few poisonous barbs here, a dash of sleeping powder through the tree line there, maybe a little bit of sneaking around and docking them in the back of the neck, and our crew would make quick work of them.

After a short argument with Borat, the Captain finally agreed that no real harm should come to the guild’s staff. Nothing too violent, just leave them out cold for a while. Doc would make sure they were still breathing by the end of it.

We slowly approached the epicenter of it all, where the cliff the guild stood on was just a sheer hundred feet from the beginnings of the dungeon. It was clear now, the border between the real world and the tunnels of branches and leaves that the mysterious place had spawned. You could clearly see where it began, the point where space and time contorted. You could visibly see the air around it spin, like an orb that surrounded the place. You wouldn’t be able to leave unless you crawled your way through most of it. Either that, or get teleported back while on guild’s duty. I still didn’t know how they pulled that off. It was surreal though, the mere thought of it, the mere sight. The deathly zone was just a few seconds away from the guild, a running pace away from trapping over a hundred sleeping Pokémon. It did make me wonder, had something stopped it from continuing onwards? Had some mysterious force or some legendary prevented the certain tragedy? No one wanted to know the answer, whether something could control the places or if it was all random. I don’t think a single one of us wanted to find out either, as most of our group stuck as close as they could to the wall. Soon enough, we could stop holding our breaths. We had reached a spot where the Captain thought, or more so where he asked me, was a good place to stop.

The cliff protruded upward for at least a hundred feet. It would be a twenty minute climb but a five second drop. The Captain had demanded for the best possible spot to enter, and to the best of my knowledge this was it. We were on the northern side of the guild, facing south. With a few strong pulls and a bit of footwork, a few of our own began to climb up cautiously. They would have to keep in mind that the guild contained its very own ground and rock-types, Pokémon who might feel the soil outside twist and turn with each push and pull, so silently they continued. Not a single claw nor a single blade could be utilized, or else our endeavor could end with disaster. Eventually with the tug of a few nerves they had finally reached a good location, and signaled for a few to fly up.

The aviation team made their way towards the sky, taking with them a few bag’s worth of nails and rope. The Charizard almost tried to go up with them, but someone he knew convinced him otherwise. His tail would have been a giveaway for starters, and I don’t think a dragon of his size could stay up there without creating some noise. There was enough of that as it were, as the flying-types and the climbers started to interact. The bags remained at the birds’ side, as they slowly handed over nails one at a time. They began to strike at them, each hit sending sparks down everyone’s spine. The noise was louder than anything we had caused before, and it probably rang out for miles on end. Each hit drew gasps, each strike of the hammer made us wince.

There was enough awkwardness now to last an hour’s worth, but after a few more minutes the deed had been done. With one final strike the ropes began to fall, and most of our crew began to climb. I hesitated to follow, for a good while too. My nerves had finally caved in on me it seemed, as I couldn’t find the courage to start climbing. Yet for a moment a thought trickled through my head, something that gave me a little bit of hope. At least I wasn’t using the stairs.

The Captain still stood at ground level with me. He cursed and murmured under his breath, as his foot tapped faster and faster. “Damnit…where are they.” He grew impatient, as another minute would past. Soon, we were some of the last Pokémon still on the ground.

A small group of three or four Pokémon, consisting mostly of dark-types, emerged from the brush. There was no doubt that they were a part of the thieves. They ran for the Captain, carrying with them the goods he had requested nearly an hour before.

“What took you punks so long?” the Captain snarled.

The one carrying the bag handed it over to him, still flustered from his mile-long run from town. “We…ran into trouble,” he panted. “Had to wait…for the crowd to go away.”

“Well make your way back to our camp, make sure nobody comes looking for us, got it?”

He heaved once more, giving the Captain a half-hearted salute before walking off through the brush. Jonah tossed the bag up to the crew on the rope, ordering them to parry it to the top. He took one final moment to turn to me and command, “Start climbing, now.”

I took to the rope adjacent to his. No matter the case, with all the bruises and cuts on his body, he still found the strength to climb. And upwards he did, faster than I ever could. Even if I was in peak performance, he would have still outmatched me. He climbed up and around the crewmembers that stopped for him. Though as much as I struggled and strained, I eventually reached his position, and we both looked down for a moment to inspect the land below. In all honesty, I was never really scared of heights. Yet from that point I did form a bit of nervousness, just from the view. The Captain remained steadfast though, the sight just encouraged his bravery even further.

“Sid,” he spoke. The strain he used to keep himself upright was evident in his voice, as he struggled to speak as he exhaled. “Is this the spot?”

“Y-yea,” I quivered. “Should be the fourth floor down, and they’d probably keep the cymbals on the third floor—with the Guildmaster.”

For the first time in at least three hours, the Captain’s voice roared. He called down to those still waiting on the ropes. “Right, we’re going in on the last floor. One floor up and we’re done here! After that we scatter, if you’re left behind you’re left behind! No buts, got it?” He looked over at me, sighing for a moment. “I don’t want a single death in there ok? It’s a guild, they’re gonna try to subdue us and it’s just the rule of battle for us to do the same. If I hear that a single one of you killed someone in there, I’ll make sure you never get back on my ship again!” I could see through his cool demeanor for a moment. Although the crew found honesty in his command, I knew for a fact he was just echoing the Quartermasters opinion. Whatever the case, I didn’t honestly care. I just wanted this whole ordeal over with sooner than later, and besides, perhaps there was some truth in his command. Others would doubt it, but I saw the honesty in him.

“Uh,” he muttered. “How should these work?” He had taken the contents of the bag out, a group of Blast seeds with sticky residue left all over them. Because of the jelly-like substance, taking it out of the cloth was a hassle for him. Everyone next to him shook a little, hoping that he wouldn’t accidentally set them off right there. I noticed it myself too. The cluster of seeds were cracked and brittle, just a few pokes away from being set off. It was a simple construction. The Captain would place the device in the center of the radius he wanted removed. When one of our ground-types struck the earth, they would use the seismic activity of their move to create a ripple. When both parties combined, the cliff would be weakened and the cluster would activate, blowing a hole for our entry.

“Let’s just hope this works,” he whispered. He stuck the thing into the rock, making sure it didn’t move or break off. Like we had perceived it to be, it successfully stayed in place. We all backed away as far as the rope would let us. We didn’t exactly know how powerful the bomb would be, but it was necessary nonetheless. “You ready?” he asked a crewmember above us. The pokemon, a Geodude, nodded. With one arm gripping the cliff as best he could, he raised his other. With his palm open, and a stiff disposition, he slapped the dirt as best as he could. The ripples began, nearly sending me off balance. The first one rode over us, but the device didn’t go off. Then the second drove through us, then the third.

“C’mon you piece of junk!” Jonah roared. 

The fourth and fifth didn’t do anything as well, neither did the sixth or the seventh. The eighth rolled by, and then the ninth and tenth. The eleventh and-

My right ear began to act up once again, and a bright flash encaptivated me and all those around. Damn did it sting! Not just my ear, but my entire body convulsed with the strength of the blast. It felt so intense. I hadn’t even realized my eyes had been closed the entire time. Everything seemed to click back in place, and opening my eyes proved no harder than usual. That hole was terrifying to look at. It was at least ten yards wide in all directions, if we had stayed in our starting position we would have been burned to a crisp. Smoke and dust emanated from the chasm we had just spawned, an accumulation of all the energy that had been released in that moment.

The Captain chuckled a bit in shock, and I think a few of us did too. He couldn’t muster up anything, I think the blast affected him a little more than me. Although what remained of my ear canal kept ringing, I could still make out the Captain’s call with dignity. “Into the hole, c’mon!” The charge had begun as over a dozen Pokémon began to swing themselves inside, a mix of raging howls following suit. We stumbled inside, the Captain leading a few feet ahead. The dust remained suspended in the thin air. It became thick and coarse, making it nearly impossible to walk forward. I stumbled through the dirt. An apparent mix of shock and confusion made itself known through the fog. They were close, maybe too close already. Still, I pressed forward. The air slowly dissolved the dirt that swirled alongside it. I bumped into something, bruised myself against a table of sorts.

“It’s too thick!” the Quartermaster roared. “Get us some freakin’ air in here!”

The birds from outside would obey, creating a whirlwind which would clear the air of this pestilence. The dust began to shrink out of the room, making our surroundings clearer with each passing second. It was a collection hall, or maybe a meeting room? In all honesty, I had never even been beyond the third floor. I had just made a guess for the hole, I didn’t actually expect us to be this precise. Yet the room was large enough as it was, big enough for an error like that to be made. All I could do was wait for the clouds to disperse, silent as ever and observant like no one else. Within a minute, it all came to light. The room’s purpose showed itself with the light blue visage of the sky outside.

“A canteen?” Jonah sparked. Pots and pans of all shapes and sizes littered every single table in the room, and the blissful aroma of a warm meal filled the air. It seemed that the guild’s disciples had just been settling in for dinner when we had begun to hammer away at their walls. I had missed out on a lot apparently.

Awkwardness filled the room as I wondered whether I should laugh or try and keep a straight face. There was now a considerable number of Pokémon huddled in the room, both of my own companions and the guildmembers. A hundred eyes just stared at each other, their bodies making no movement whatsoever.

“Well don’t just stand still!” the Captain roared. “Let’s push, move!”

And so began a fray that would stir both parties once more. The tables were tossed and turned in the air, along with the mountains of food they had accompanied so far. Wood was chipped, chairs were bent, and tables torn in two as the both of us tried to tackle the other first. I couldn’t tell whether we had the upper hand or not. The twisting coils of war pushed us further and further into the room, but our attack was grounded to a halt as we scuttled to the doorway. When the area ahead was only three Pokémon wide, the fighting became sparse and independent. Those of us trapped in the back could only watch as those who lead us began to fall victim to the corridor. Their bodies were shoved to the back of the huddle, as another would begin to take their place. In that race of adrenaline most of our own had begun to take the advantage. Even in a fair, non-lethal attack we knew how to fight dirty. Yet all of our strength they had matched with sheer diversity. They had many fighters no doubt, the best explorers and ‘crawlers’ from this side of the globe. Powerful waves of psychosis rushed through our ranks like water, hoping to demoralize those in the back quicker than the front. Yet the power of their telekinesis would falter once our own legion began to fire quills and barbs with enough accuracy to make them scatter. Razor sharp leaves flew, wind carried violence, and fire sprung up from lungs that exhaled with force. Poison ran through our veins, and the very ground below us was brought up to bash each other senseless. Slowly I began to understand this form of fighting. It was the very same fear and sickness that had plagued our rivals on the ship we had so desperately escaped.

“We haven’t made an inch of ground!” the Quartermaster trembled. “Where the hell is the ambush? We were supposed to rout them from behind!”

Shrills and wails came from the enemy’s furthest lines. Panic began to ensue throughout the crowd. “There’s dozens of them above us, hundreds! We’re getting overrun!”

“Split the line, split it upstairs!”

“Don’t let the guild fall boys!”

Suddenly our footsteps became relevant again. The power we held in our ability to push began to spring up once more. Even quicker than before we gained an inch, then a foot, then a yard. Directions became clear and concise as our morale grew ever stronger. The guildmembers let themselves falter, and with that we had secured the distance between ourselves and the other side of the corridor.

“What did they do?” the Captain shimmered. “What did we do?”

“Forgive my intrusion,” the Charizard spoke. “But my commandant did speak of resources.”

The Captain was a little taken back by the dragon’s sudden intrusion. But nonetheless he returned to commanding the crew. I took note of the large Pokémon. He carried a strong, never faltering frown. His arms remained crossed, and his wings always retracted. He stood amongst the ranks doing absolutely nothing, simply keeping in pace with the group.

“What are you doing?” I questioned.

He took a moment to look me over. “Walking…”

“Shouldn’t someone as large as you be in the front with the rest of the charge?”

“This is a pointless battle,” he stated proudly. “We are not achieving anything here, why should I get myself involved?”

“Because you’re probably useless back here.”

“My mere presence weakens the enemy.”

I didn’t want to argue with the bastard; I just gave into the crowd’s movements and continued onwards. The crazy coot would just stay there anyway, at the back of the group with the coy look on his face. No matter, there was more to think about than some Pokémon’s expression. The room in front of the lot of us allowed ourselves some breathing room. We quickly shaped out into a ray of Pokémon, a line that protected those in the back as they ran to cover us. The room revealed its size, a large expanse of a cavern that had been artificially cut out. Long wooden staircases surrounded both sides of the room. Their arching pathways would bring us ever closer to the cymbals hidden location. Slowly we began the push towards them, as the guildmembers attempted to close in around us. We still held the doorway to the east, yet the room we pushed through had two layers. Two floors of bunks and resting compartments, this is what the guild had built in preparation for its large numbers—enough room for a hundred different pokemon. Whether they were rookies or trained veterans, each one of them got in the way of our intended path. Slowly our push came to a halt, and one by one we had to move by mere inches once more. The staircases became our fighting grounds, as more of them fell off to help with whatever the other team had planned.

“Sid!” Jonah screamed. His shrill calls enveloped what was left of my ears, as I searched frantically for him. He remained on the right-hand staircase, just a few pokemon behind the front line. I pushed and heaved my way through our crowd to reach him. Through the stairs and the injured pokemon being hauled away, I made my way to him.

“Sid,” he began once again. “I’m gonna lead this charge straight through their ranks. Once I’m done here I want you to run straight for the cymbals. We should reach you by the time you’re done.” I nodded in response. He almost stood back up, before turning back to me and replying with, “Good luck Sid.”

He called for the charge, and immediately everyone followed. With the force of a thousand Pokémon he led a mere dozen through the right flank, dispelling most of the guild’s defenses like a knife through butter. I wouldn’t receive a call, nor a sign of any kind. This was now of my own accord, my mission was now a secret. Only I had been here before, only I had the knowledge of where the instruments might be kept. It was only a matter of time before the ranks would close up again, and my chance would be squandered. I moved as quick as I could. Sneaking through the shadows left from broken lanterns, I forced myself towards the main stairway. I winced with each step, as the structure creaked with my weight. Although there was hardly any reason to, I anticipated each noise I made. I hoped, practically prayed that there would be no soul waiting for me ahead.

Those clever bastards in the distraction team had cooked up something practically devilish. The first two basement floors were practically overrun with hastily thrown Decoy seeds, the remnants of others like Blast or Flash seeds hid the true intentions of the first. They had tricked most of the guild into thinking they were overrun on both sides, while the little detachment of ours could cut them down to size. Disregarding the seeds though, I slowly began to feel familiar with the room. It was large and overbearing; the lights had been either dimmed or blown out completely. Nearly half a decade ago I had found myself in these halls, crowded with Pokémon in every corner. The shops and trade-ins were the same as before, their sharp edges and worn down wood still reminiscent of a different time. The room to my right was still empty, still barren outside of a few crates and barrels. The upper ranks of the guild still slept in the left hand corridor. Because of the battle they had obviously left their post, but it was still remarkable to see the place with such clarity. What I had either read or heard from years before began to encaptivate me. Words that sparked with legend and myth began to flood the thoughts of the room. Damnit, I still had a mission to do! Yet for all the urgency of the moment, the mere sight of this magnificent room being completely empty sent chills down my spine—chills that moved me to explore.

So explore I did, wandering further away from the room that held what I was supposed to treasure. Those who still remained in the arching room were either injured or treating others. I didn’t think they paid any mind to me, or, at least I didn’t believe them to do so. I gave myself excuses. They wouldn’t mind, they wouldn’t even see me. Maybe the cymbals were kept in those rooms, maybe they were hidden away somewhere in there. I found any reason to continue forwards into that hallway. The further and further I went, I felt my heart palpitate and rush. I knew these rooms, I had studied them out of boredom or interest back when I was a child, back when I still cared about this place and the legends that surrounded it. I moved ever closer to that room in the back, the one I knew from myth and memory. I knew of the Pokémon that had once lived in the rooms around it, the Diglett family that continued to guard the place to this day, or the Sunflora that found a cure to a deathly cold that infected the guild. They were all important, but all old or gone. Either way, they were still unimportant to me. I wanted to see the spectacle, the grand finale of the guilds influence over my soul. I continued slowly through the dark, slowly towards the room I desperately wanted to see.

So there it was, the room that contained a hundred years of history. I stood in the room that had saved an entire continent from peril, my home continent. The same land that these two had shared, the ones who had stopped a crisis of time itself. A singular window sat adjacent to me, casting enough light from the stars for me to look around. Of course, the duo didn’t live here. They hadn’t set foot in this place for a good amount of time. Whatever they had kept in here had been scuttled away, replaced by the items and mementos of a different generation. I wondered if they thought this way about the room they shared, if they even found it abnormal at all. Why had I shot down the opportunity to see this place so long ago? Would that have kept me in my place? Would it have stopped me from perusing the ocean, from a lust of the sea? I ran my claws across the wooden bars that kept the room in place, getting a feel for its texture and girth. Would I have stayed here? Was this where I was supposed to be if I hadn’t ran off?

“I thought it was you,” a voice humbly chimed. “I’d never forget a face.” It was Wigglytuff the Second himself, holding that never wavering smile that I expected of him. “Hello Sid, how have you been?” I couldn’t find the words to speak, I was still shocked by his mere presence in this situation. I hadn’t expected him to show, especially when I was alone. I think he figured out my awkwardness, and tried to hold the conversation as best he could. “This room is old now, isn’t it? I get so caught up in my work that I forget about it sometimes. They used to come here sometimes, we always reserved the room for them. Even when I was boy they used to come here often and visit. Although it did always stir up some frustration from Chatot, both he and my father found it pleasant.”

He ran his hand over the same wood I had. “Of course, the room is now habited by some new Pokémon. They hold a lot of promise, maybe just as much as their predecessors. But I don’t think I’ll ever forget them myself, even if their tale can make me a little skeptical at times.”

“A-are, are you going to kill me?” I asked in shock.

“What?” he scoffed, almost laughing. “Why would I do that to any of you?” I still wasn’t trustworthy of him, no matter how much kindness he showed. Even still, he beckoned me to be reasonable. “He’s a lot like you, the human I mean. A Treeko, then a Grovyle and Sceptile. He grew up so fast, but he’s always kept those habits. Always jumpy and questionable of everyone or everything, and he never relaxes.”

I was in no situation to fight, and I don’t think the Guildmaster wanted to anyway. What the hell, I’d give him some leeway. “You imply he’s still alive.”

“He is, although it has been a hundred years since the dilemma he talks of. Time eventually caught up to him I suppose. Although your species lives long lives, I doubt he wants to keep going for so long.”

“Why is that?” I stammered, as a sudden thought rushed through my head.

“Well I mean he’s reaching his end, he can barely move on his own. The guild he used to run now has to take care of him themselves. Plus…” He paused for a moment, something clearly tugging at him. “His partner died a good few years ago, they were always very close for being rivals in blood. It’s been so long since the event they talk about, most Pokémon now wonder if it ever happened or not.” He began to laugh, but got quickly caught up in a depression again. “I’m…not good with death. That was something my father could handle, but not me.”

 He sighed, “This place will still be here tomorrow, and I don’t think we have much time as it is anyway.” He motioned for me to follow chase, as he began to walk back through the corridor. I reluctantly followed, taking note of how eager he was to show me around.

“Not much has changed since you were last here,” he began. “The dungeon has been sorted out for the most part, and the town hasn’t really grown as much as it used to. I’d have thought you’d miss it by now.”

“It never really came to mind,” I replied. He led me back to his quarters. Nervously checking from a distance on those who were injured and getting treatment.

“Please tell me one thing before we continue,” he begged. “Did you come here with intentions?”

“That’s pretty vague Quartermaster.”

“I mean…to kill.”

I struggled with the decision to tell him or not. Would he be the type to stab me in the back like this, to relay it back to his own men and cut our throats at any notice? “…No, my leader made it very clear that we wouldn’t be that harsh to you.”

“Good, I can accept that at least…” He took a moment, hesitating himself whether to let me in or not. He made a decision in that second, and led me back into the lush room he occupied. “If it was a war you wished for, then I understand the consequences of that. I won’t lie, many of my own students can be very bloodthirsty. Sometimes its just of their nature as Pokémon, but its something I do look down upon. As long as no real harm comes to them, I’m fine with whatever outcome.”

“Is that why you let me in here in the first place?”

“No, of course not! I knew you for a while, and there’s a bit you’ve missed out on.” He hesitated once again, “Plus, I know there is something you came here for.”

Small, delicate flames were lit from the stems of smaller candles, the entire area was strewn with the little things. The room had either aged or change since I had last visited it. The big office that I had once considered prissy had completely vanished, replaced by mountains of quilts and carpets. Though the fireplace still stood where I had normally remembered it to be, and a portrait of his father still hung above it. “What happened to the, uh…”

“The table? Oh, we got rid of that ages ago. It was a temporary thing back then, had to store a lot of the guilds paperwork here while we remodeled the place. Plus, that was an especially busy year for us! You’d be surprised how quiet it is now, compared to your first impression that is.” He chuckled, “And the rugs, well, that’s just a little hobby of mine. I like collecting them.”

He was different to me, certainly not the Pokémon I had originally thought him to be. I realized then that he certainly didn’t view me as an enemy, neither a combatant either. Even if there was a battle raging on down below, he still treated me as a guest, a friend perhaps. He was a strange leader, in a nice kind of way. Still though, I kept on guard. I knew eventually the bastard would do something to take me into custody.

“I’m sorry Sid, but I have to say…” he quivered. “My god, you’ve changed so much! Look at you, I mean you’ve grown so much, made a little muscle too! But that scar above your eye, and your signature leaf is almost gone as well. You lost your ear too, or does it work still?”

“How could you tell about my ear?”

“There’s scar tissue, it’s brittle and looks useless.” He put a caring hand on my head, inspecting the wound for himself. I batted it away gently.

“Thanks, but no…it doesn’t work at all anymore.”

“Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry Sid. But you mustn’t let that get infected you know!”

“Don’t worry, my group has a doctor onboard.”

“Ah,” he sighed in relief. “There was an explosion down at the docks a few hours ago, and I thought it had something to do with it.”

“No, the wound is old.”

“Well, that’s a relief. But speaking of old…” he paused. He motioned for me to sit, right at the foot of his own little rug. He hurried over to the other side of the room, making me flinch in anticipation. He was going to trick me I was sure of it! Yet he didn’t, instead taking a small binder out of a large set of drawers.

“I saved this for a while. We didn’t think you’d ever come back, so most of the paper handlers wanted to just trash it, but I found value in it.”

I stood up, looking the wooden file over from a distance. It was small, it couldn’t contain more than a few pieces of paper.  “What is it?”

“It’s your file, the one I made for your enrolment.”

“Wait, what do you mean by enrolment? More importantly, what does ‘coming back’ mean?”

“Don’t you remember? You never failed, at all actually. We just didn’t have enough space at the time.” He sighed sympathetically, “Sid, you don’t mean to tell me you gave up like that?”

“Well what was I supposed to do?” I shot back angrily. “You kicked me out at the last moment! I spent a month traveling here, and you shot me down in less than a day!”

“We never did Sid, we just didn’t have the space. I promised you, no matter what, when we got an opening you would be the first to get in. Your friends back at Guild’s Bay…”

That name shot fire through my veins, a fire that sparked like dynamite in my tongue. “I know about those bastards! They’re the ones that put that stupid idea in my head, to come here for nothing!” My mind began to spin, as a chilling sickness began to overthrow my stomach. I felt like I was going to throw up and die at the same moment.

“Sid, please calm down! I’m not trying to hurt you. Please listen to me,” he begged. “I’m not trying to lecture you, not at all whatsoever! I just need to know…” He paused, almost looking sick just from looking at me. “Did you…even remember our conversation, that you still had an opportunity here?”

“No!” I shouted. I needed to sit back down, all this news just began to overwhelm me.

“Then…why did you leave town? Y-you, you had a future here, I can assure you of that!”

“I don’t know,” I strained, rubbing my temple from all the stress. “I just didn’t know.”

I think he tried to comfort me, taking note of my distress. Even still, I wouldn’t trust that concerned look of his.

“Anyways,” he stammered, trying to take control of the situation. “That doesn’t matter anymore, you’re here now.” He opened the file, recreating a smile on his face. “You’ve had a lot of friends who’ve cared about you Sid, not only including the ones in…” He didn’t finish that last sentence. “Well, you have friends here at least.”

“What do you mean?” I struggled to say. “There’s only one person I…” Once again, emotion took the better of my stomach, sending knots through the entirety of my insides.

“Right, one Pokémon. When it came down to looking for you-“

“You looked for me, in this massive fucking city?”

“Of course, although I’d prefer if you wouldn’t cu-“

“Why the hell would you try to look for me?”

“Well why not? You never gave us an address or any hint where you’d be staying. I even asked the members back at…you know. When it finally came down to it, there was only one pokemon who said they knew you. It was a-“

“I know who it is!” I snapped. “Just, just don’t tell me…please.”

“Alright, but its important. I think you should know at least a little bit of it. Just tell me if you’d like me to stop…”

I didn’t make any suggestion, or any movements whatsoever. As much as I wanted to end the conversation, something urged me onwards. Maybe it was the godforsaken pit in my stomach.

He hesitated, but continued. “When I finally met her again, she said you had left six months prior. She expected you any day then, but you-“

“Was she kind?” I intrigued. “What she kind to you?”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“Y-you kicked her out, like you kicked me out.”

“I didn’t kick…She had the opportunity to join, but she didn’t. I didn’t judge, she was going through something and I didn’t want to stress her. I told her the same thing I told you.” It seemed as if he had as much trouble speaking as I had listening. “She…she asked about you for a few months, if we knew anything about you returning. She kept looking for you for about two years, sending us letters every once in a while. I think she tried the entire countryside. She stopped sending letters a while back, I don’t know if she’s still searching or not.”

He slid an envelope out of the wood, sliding it gently over to my side. My heart squeezed at the mere sight of it. I wouldn’t dare touch it, not even if I wanted to. After a while, he reluctantly tucked it back into its resting spot. 

“Sid, are you okay?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Someone shouldn’t normally receive good news like this…”

“What do you mean good news?” I shot back.

“Your friends still care about you! Whether you want to hear about Guild’s Bay or not, I don’t care if something happened to you there, but they still care about you! We care about you, I care about you! But whoever she is to you, she cares ten times more than any of us ever could! Yet you’re taking all this like…like some kind of plague!”

“Well how else am I supposed to react, when everything I tried to get away from suddenly came back?”

“Stop trying to run away,” he persuaded. “Nobody hates you here! I’m just trying to help, you’re obviously not happy-“

“You call this help?” I raged, almost wanting to get up and lunge at him. “I’ll tell you what this little act is you prick! You’ve stuck a knife in my back, and you keep twisting it! Twisting it and twisting it, until there’s nothing left to pull out!”

“Sid-“

It felt like I was in hell, and this was my punishment. “No…” I groaned. “Enough bullshit, I’ve had enough of this!” I ached with every stretch of my voice, my emotions overtaking my thoughts. “Just give me the cymbals, or I’ll kill you. I don’t care what you have to tell me, just hand them over…”

Neither of us moved, unwilling to let go of this squabble. Eventually I cooled off, at least as much as I could let myself. All I could do was slump my head back into my arms and sigh.

“You’ve always been a good Pokémon Sid, I knew that the moment I got the letters about you from your hometown. That’s why I asked to meet you here, which is why they…why they got you to come here in the first place. I’ve known everyone who’s come through these doors-“

“There’s at least a hundred Pokémon here Guildmaster…”

“And I care about every one of them. My father would too, and I expect them to do the same to each other. Now you, you keep shutting the door on everyone who tries to help you, and I can’t help but feel that it’s my fault.” He paused, almost expecting another interruption from me. “This conversation feels useless Sid, I don’t even think it’s helping either of us. I’m sorry Sid, I think I led you too far. I thought I could convince you to stay…but that’s not going to happen. I’m sure you’re doing fine with your group, and I’m sure there are Pokémon there now that you don’t want to separate from. So I’m sorry if I pushed this on you at all. I just worried too much.” He got up and walked back to the cabinet, taking out a familiar looking object wrapped in cloth. “I mean, this is what you came here for, why you’re all fighting my group. Maybe it was wrong of that captain I hired to take them from you like that, so let’s not escalate this any further.”

He walked back to me, placing the cymbals in my arms.

“W-why?”

“They’re what you came for, right?” he cheerfully asked in return.

“Well yea, but…I threatened you, I said I was gonna-“

“You were angry Sid, I understand that. These things, well I just wanted to make sure they were safe. I think in some way you do too.” He led me back to the door, taking great consideration that I would take my time to move. “No matter what, you always have a place here. I’ve kept that spot for you since it was available. Plus, all those Pokémon that used to be here are mostly travelers now. They probably scared you off that first time huh?”

Although I didn’t really want to agree with him, I nodded…slightly.

“Well, if you ever finish with that ship thing of yours, and you need somewhere to go, we’ll always be here for you. Just, promise me one thing. That you’ll use those cymbals for good.”

“I…I can’t promise you that.”

He became a little defeated, “Ok, but whatever you can do to stop them from harming others, you make that effort. I trust you Sid, that’s the only reason I gave them back.” He made one final effort to lead me out of his quarters, taking some time to make some final goodbyes and all that. “Now, good luck Sid. Don’t get into any trouble,” he jokingly concluded.

I didn’t find any humor in his comment, suddenly remembering what would come next. I turned back to him in a burst of importance. “Does this door have a lock?”

“Yes, but I never use-”

“Use it now, hell, barricade it if you can. Don’t open it for anyone you don’t recognize.” After that, I just ran. I ran out of sight, as far as I could from him. The overbearing room was empty now, those who were sick and injured had been hauled away somewhere else. In the corner of the room, I finally gave in, taking a moment to regain my composure before stumbling back over to the staircase. I felt like I could burst, but quickly that feeling began to drain away. I took a moment to sit on the stairs, even if I knew rest was a luxury I wasn’t allowed anymore.

“Right you little shit!” the captain boomed, suddenly appearing from below. “Been waiting a while, what took you so long?”

“N-nothing,” I strained in false composure. “Someone hid them, took me a while to find.”

“Well I’m glad that’s over. Can I see them?” I tossed the linen-wrapped instruments over to him, hiding my bloodshot eyes from his gaze. “My god, nice work again Sid!” He made me smile again, something I still didn’t fully comprehend yet. Somehow through all the stress, I had found comfort in this leader. Maybe this is where I was supposed to be.

“So what now?” I inquired.

“Well, Borat is dealing with the bastards still stuck downstairs. So the other privates don’t have anywhere to run too…” A flash of a thought crossed through his expression, an image of the plan he had begun to craft. “We gotta get the hell outta here, that’s what we’ve gotta do!” He cheered as he threw the instruments back to me, leaving me in a hurried state to get them secure in my bag.

He jumped back down the stairs, leaving me to scramble back up to him. “The ropes won’t support us anymore,” he continued. “I’d be too slow. We’re gonna need to bash through ‘em one last time and get out of the main entrance!”

He signaled down to those still stuck on the third floor, and to the ones who remained with him on the platform up above. “Retreat, we got the cymbals! Get back to the rope, everyone who can’t get there in time follow me!”

The room emerged into chaos, as our line immediately fell to the guildmembers. They crashed back out of the rooms we had cornered them in. It was something to be expected, as everyone just took off in every direction. This was it, the moment that would break a few but save the many. When one of our own stumbled to the ground either out of mistake or from defeat, our combatants immediately tackled them down. They pushed them back through their own lines, into rooms where we’d never see them again. Of course, no real harm would come to them, but this was the last of their journey so to speak.    It made me sick, but I could tell from the Captains strong gaze that it was a necessary sacrifice. They didn’t have anything to tell anyways. To him, they were a worthwhile casualty now, and a good distraction for the rest of the guild.

He didn’t waste time either, taking to the stairs once again. I knew immediately to follow him. As much as I wanted to check on the ropes and the crew, I would just get caught up in the crowd or worse. Up we went, through the hundred or so decoys our detachment had scattered for us. To our surprise, the guild remained empty. Even on the first basement level, it remained still. The only signs that anything lived here were the pieces of paper that lined the walls, dictating orders and job details. There was no time to reflect on that, nor to even get a good view of it. Before I knew it, the Captain had cleared for the entrance. We emerged once again to the surface, this time on the peak of the arching cliff. A thousand droplets fell towards us, a reminder that the night was not quite over yet.

The Captain stopped right at the edge of the steps, taking the time to feel them pour upon his skin. Something shifted in him, his urgency faded a little. He just stood there, taking an achingly long time to soak them in. Was he absorbing them at all, or was he just meditating? Our crew shot out alongside him. The stack of Pokémon twisted around their paused leader, taking no time to disperse back to our original meet up.

Sirens blazed in the distance, as blue lights began to flutter across the entire town.

“The Magnezone Police!” I mentioned.

“Looks like we’re not getting away that easy,” Jonah replied. “Borat, where’s the quartermaster? Borat!”

“Damnit!” he hissed. “Useless bastard went down the rope!” He began to imitate the call Borat had used for the bird pokemon, using his mandible to emulate the shrill call. After repeating it, the bird finally came. The Honchkrow took a moment to recognize the Captain, which just irritated him even more.

“Tell the ship to sail for the docks, quickly now!” With that the crow took off, leaving the Captain with a mess he was a bit too angry to deal with. “Disperse! Split up, scatter your way to the docks! Just don’t get caught, useless bastards!” His irritation began to show, proving finally that he wasn’t as calm-headed as most claimed him to be.

“This is the first spot they’ll look!” he rambled. “Why won’t these buggers listen and split!”

“Don’t worry about them sir, they’re smarter than we think.”

“We?” he began, before dropping his issue for something greater. “You know your way around the city right?”

“Well I used-“

“Get me to the docks, we don’t have the time nor the patience to make this easy.”

“Right,” I replied. He had ordered me to lead him back down to the city streets, and lead him I would. It began to flood back to me, the streets and the alleyways. The town was just as I had left it, wet and salty, full of brick and rock. The rain made the task no better, making it harder to see ahead of ourselves. Nevertheless, we skyrocketed through the rows upon rows of buildings.

“This is going nowhere!” he shouted. “We’re just wasting time having to move between these houses!”

“Well…” A thought came to mind, a clever little invention I had begun to remember. The battle on The Gallant had reminded me how it worked, before long the memory was worth its weight in gold. I released the energy that manifested within me, shooting a vine to the heavens. Thanks to gravity, it bended back down to the ground, hitting the rooftop as intended.

It was a lot like a new appendage, like skin if you can believe that. I could sense what it rested upon, what it felt and got stuck to. It’s mysterious to most other Pokémon, but many of us grass types have mastered it perfectly. With enough practice, I could distinguish the difference between coarse and smooth. And with a little more effort I got it snagged on something tight. Jonah smirked for a moment.

“Something I learned back in the day!” I boasted. “Don’t you know how to use it?”

“No,” he began, getting a grip on the vine and leaning upwards. “I never had the time to learn.”

We could finally jump from rooftop to rooftop, using the old trick I had mastered. It became easier to outmaneuver the town’s police. They probably couldn’t even see us from down there. Yet one by one, the buildings began to light up. It felt like we were racing against the lanterns, hoping from block to block as the light just moments behind us was brought back to life. The townsfolk began to cluster and group, noticing all the commotion that still occurred at the dock. It was one thing to have a ship explode in their own port, I wonder what it was like to see the same criminals now running back to it.

“C’mon Sid, just a few more blocks!”

We continued to dangle from rooftop to rooftop, shimmying our way closer and closer to the docks. A burst of light shot from the waters ahead, a sign that The Crouse was ready to hightail it out of there. My heart raced, it shot through the roof as I began to recognize the buildings. The street below began to feel-

“Shit!” The Captain lurched, my vine began to snap, and within that moment it sent us tumbling down into the alleyway below. With a little luck, we remained partially unscathed. A few bumps and bruises were the price we paid for that trick, and I was thankful the admission fee wasn’t higher.

The Captain didn’t take a single moment to hesitate. He arose back to his feet, taking with him an uncompromising strength. What little could be seen of his eyes shot volumes of tenacity. A feeling crept over me, one that pulled me towards his attitude, that if I didn’t follow soon I would left to rot. It was a cry to action, one that helped me push myself back up. He immediately started running, as did I right on his tail. As we rushed straight through the alleyway’s exit, I could see the faces of Pokémon through the shadows. Their figures showed hurriedness, as the ever-growing crowd continued to light their path. They were closing in on every side, were they the police? Had we been cornered? A flare arose in the distance. A sign, a sign that The Crouse had finally docked! We were just a few blocks away, now three or four! My stomach began to crawl though, as I began to recognize the buildings a bit too much. We were just two blocks down, the street parallel to us condensed into our path, and then-

And then a light flashed through the street. My eyes began to water and I shut them tight, the bright light had completely blinded me. I scratched at my eyes, as I saw colors and shapes that signified my sight’s return. There I was, completely still in the middle of somewhere I couldn’t make out yet, the rain pouring down on me like a waterfall. I could see a little bit now. The world spun a little.

“Move, we’re almost there!” Jonah screamed. “Run!”

But I couldn’t. My legs couldn’t find the strength, nor did they think to. My heart shot straight into my throat, as my newly found eyesight understood where I had stopped. I remained in the middle of a familiar street, one that boar marks and crevices I had hoped to forget. The light remained steadfast, an ability of a Pokémon I would never make out. Among him was a crowd of Pokémon, no police in sight. They didn’t barge, or rush or yell, they just stood in some sort of awe at me. Like I was a ghost that was so familiar yet so lost. I scrambled for any sign that this wasn’t real, anything to provoke me back to reality. Left and right, up and down, even behind me, but no sign that this was fake. Yet the thing that would seal this as the true reality, was a sign. A motionless, water stained sign hung from a lamppost behind me. Whoever had cast the move had helped me in some manner, or maybe wounded if that was my outlook. It hung with a bright green paint, with big bold white letters that read a haunted name.

Nomad’s…

I turned back to the crowd, who still stood on their familiar street with its familiar name. The Captain, the ship, the docks, what were they? They were just an enigma that pushed itself further and further away as I stared into the never-ending crowd. Doors opened and windows creaked to life, revealing the figures from inside. There was no more hiding, no cowering or reluctance. I was here, I was home. At least one person here had recognized me, at least one face could see who I was. If it wasn’t that old, unorganized Grovyle named Sid, than who could it be? Why else would he stop, why else would I stop? No one moved, not even my eyes. I just stared endlessly at their silhouettes, their unrecognizable, incomprehensible silhouettes. Someone had to have recognized me in the crowd, a certain someone who was more than just a witness to my being. But I couldn’t make them out, and I never would. Whether the light was on or not, I would never see them. They were simply too far away.

I smiled a little. Hell, I cant remember if I even waved or not, maybe I had. In the haze of the moment I could’ve. They would understand it, could they? They had a name too, or had I forgotten that as well? Brisa, an echo that shook inside me whenever I repeated it. Maybe I even mouthed it, maybe they even noticed me doing it. She had to have been there, couldn’t she? It was a working day, a perfectly peaceful night after a hard day. I think I whimpered and my legs quivered, I couldn’t take this pressure. One of these formless Pokémon had to be her, but I was stuck on the receiving end of a never ending glare. Oh how I panicked! I should have stayed, I should have stayed I should’ve-

“You fucking nitwit!” With that, a voice rang into my left ear. A shrill, familiar voice that found its way into my head, as a certain captain lunged for me. I never looked away, even when he dragged me away by my own arm. Even as I crossed into the next alleyway before the dreaded docks, I never looked away.

He dragged me a good ways before I got a hold of myself, and continued with him by my own accord. We ran up onto the boarding ramp, alongside dozens of our own crew.

“Why didn’t you leave me?” I begged. I could’ve sworn tears began to form in my eyes, but maybe it was just the rain.

“You still have the cymbals you dumbass!” he shot back, albeit a bit sympathetically. “What was that back there?”

“I don’t know, I just…panicked.”

“Well don’t do it again! I worried for a moment, you’d turn yourself in or shit like that!” He stormed off down the deck, but what he spoke was volumetric. Maybe my commanding officer really did care for me. It was a statement I held to scrutiny most of the time, as I was still there only out of duty, yet there was always that possibility. That possibility is what held me there, and what kept me on that ship. As our crew loaded itself aboard, and we began to take off, even more complicated thoughts ran through my head.

But I never looked away…I never looked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be working on fixing up the first few chapters, please be patient with both old and new updates.


	9. A Revealing Command

There was nothing more to say, the future had already written itself.

No more of this frivolous running, no more hints or whiffs of the past or present.

This was it.

 

**Chapter 9: A Revealing Command**

I remained there, my head slumped towards the land as the cold rain battered my skin like needles. Most had moved for cover, to the other side of the ship or descending into her belly, but I stayed right there at the railing. I wouldn’t budge, this was my only request. If I was really ordered to stay on this ship for all of eternity, then this was my only condition. I wanted to stay there, to watch the shoreline in contempt as it finally began to sink into the horizon. Like the ships I had seen when I was younger, the bluffs and buildings of the dreaded town seemed to sway to and fro as they disappeared. My body fought with itself, my head wanted to stay but my legs wanted to carry me as far away as possible. I was contorted, completely and utterly lost in that final image of the town.

I sniffled a little, silently, as to not get any attention. I could feel the cold air work its way into my body, the primitive signs of what would come if I didn’t find warmth. A few drops of warm water ran along my eyes, and I prayed that they couldn’t be distinguished from the rain.

Still, I would be bedridden if I didn’t move or at least eat something to keep my strength up. I reached for my bag, but in that desperation I remembered how Captain Jonah had snatched it away. I still wouldn’t move, and I wouldn’t dare look away. The dockyard-leveled streets of the town were no longer visible, only the large structures that protruded from its cliffs. If I focused enough, or maybe just imagined it clearly, I could even see the hilltop that the guild sat so independently on. I thought to myself that I would never leave. I would stay here and long for that place even more than I did now.

“What the hell are you doing?” Timburr called to me, through the stressing ambience of the storm. “I’ve already had a dozen Pokémon ask me what’s wrong with you. Don’t make a damn fool of yourself!”

Maybe he thought I hadn’t heard him, but I simply wouldn’t look away. It echoed like a cavernous dungeon through my head, taking away all other motives, repeating itself over and over again. I had to stay, I had to say goodbye.

“You’ve always been like this dammit,” he spoke, in anger yet silence as he moved closer to me. “Whenever there’s something on your mind, whenever you just get lost in thought, you have this sick look on your face! It’s moody and depressing, cut it out already!”

 “Is it something about the town, or the Guild?” he asked. “You have the same look right now as you’ve always had, it has to be it then! Well, to hell with that place! A million other Pokémon get along just fine without it!” He sighed, still pressed on trying to get me to move. “Sid…”

I think he gave up. Like I in that moment, he just gave up on trying for anyone at all—not even for himself. In the corner of my vision I could finally see him there, as he leaned on the railing alongside me.

“Why the hell are you crying, what’s that town have to do with anything?” There was no longer any hostility to his notions.

My voice strained, somehow growling as the words began to stress themselves out of my throat. “I had a future there…”

“What, like a person or a job? What is it?”

As much as I wanted to say, I couldn’t find the words nor the details. My mind was still a blur, but for a moment my focus was drawn away from the town—even if my vision was still cast to it.

He seemed to strain a little, looking for something to say. Anything would suffice for him, and everything he said was normally accompanied with some form of insult or curse, but in that moment he tried to find something that would work for the better of us both.

“I never actually told you anything about myself have I?” he asked, getting an answer out of me in the form of a defeated nod. “I mean, I know a little bit about you. I asked around a bit, if you’re okay with that…” He continued to pause, still expecting me to butt in. “I’ve never told anyone the reason why I don’t haul a log around like other Timburr, I never have at all actually. I’m related to a long line of workers, we all are actually. Either some form of carpentry or some bull…stuff like that.” The short fighter strained heavily on his words. “I guess I just didn’t see that in me, and that’s what lead me here.”

I would’ve guessed he fell in the same train of thought as me. “For that, my dad just abandoned me, and my mother just gave up hope. The only Pokémon who really believed in me anymore were my siblings. They were absolutely fine with me, even if they were still involved in carpentry. I’m related to some very successful carpenters you know, or…all Timburr are I think. My brothers used to tell me not to worry, that the real popular family members would bargain for me. But you know, you can’t really get those thoughts out of your head. One thing lead to another and I finally just ran away from home. My brothers are doing well I hope, but my sister has land in the middle of nowhere and she can’t run it on her own. There’s something going on in Mist, crops just don’t grow like they used to.”

He sniffled, bearing a bit of sickness like me. “That’s where I met you, I think. At the post office when I was mailing my cash back to her, I’ve been doing that even before I got on a ship. I don’t even remember how I ended up on The Crouse, I don’t even remember if Doc was here first or I was. I-I don’t think I need money to survive anymore, I do well enough here and I get a meal at the end of the day anyways. She needs it more than me I guess. I-I don’t know what I’m trying to say…”

The last of Treasure Town began to sink into the horizon, but it didn’t really seem important anymore.

“I think,” he began. “I think if you have good intentions, and your heart is in the right place, then what you do doesn’t really matter. W-whether you’re trapped or not, you can still do something important. Even if it’s for yourself or for others.” He backed off, taking in the view himself. “Maybe there is something important about seeing that land for the last time, even for me as well.”

“I just thought,” I strained. “I just thought, something told me this was the last I’d see of it.”

“Well, you saw it,” he sympathetically remarked. At the end of the day he was still a cocky Pokémon, albeit a friendly one. “You want to go inside now?”

“S-sure,” I surrendered. I didn’t suppose the town was the only thing I’d see the last of. I believed that this would be one of the only occasions I’d ever see Timburr’s true form.

We stumbled down into the lower hold of the ship, the rest of the crew busily getting ready to rest or go out for their shifts. The long rows of disarmed gunpowder still rested within those walls. I nervously checked them alongside everyone else who hadn’t remembered what had taken place. Just a few hours before all this I had seen the extent of our enemies, just how far the Coalburners would push. Nevertheless, I didn’t have the energy to do anything but think. It was the only thing keeping me on my toes while the Pokémon around me shuffled to get the accursed stuff out of the room. From the back of that unnerving palace Skoro emerged, worriedly glancing at me.

“Sid,” she whispered. “You were up there a while, are you alright.”

Now my heart lurched, warning signs flaring up everywhere in my head. “I’m fine,” I murmured back to her, keeping my gaze as far away as possible. It felt absolutely disgusting to look at her, to talk or even think about it. For a good while I ignored her down there, at the same time trying to process just why I had started acting this way. Soon enough my eyes felt heavy, each thought getting harder and harder to find reason to. I fell asleep in my bunk, something I hadn’t achieved in what felt like a century. I could’ve sworn I slept for a good three days.

Yet the time hadn’t moved too far, taking as long as it was needed. A long, dreamless sleep drew me in at my absolute worst. I just plummeted into silence, either forgetting what I had learned or not learning anything at all. I had only slept a good twelve hours or so, time ticking back to normal.

I wiped the sweat from my eyelids as I crawled to consciousness. For how long I was up, and the time I had spent knocked out, I was feeling good. Somehow I had gotten rest in a time when it seemed scarcer than gold. So for a while I just sat there, contemplating this entire endeavor. We were now on a ghost ship, if it hadn’t been for the Captain she wouldn’t exist. Yet at the same time, when I thought back to the raid it just felt so unnecessary. We got back the cymbals though, that was more important to me than anything else.

Voices from within the hull shook me from my thoughts. They were hidden around corners, soft yet gruff murmurs that I could still make out. “Fucking useless pricks, I swear…” They hadn’t realized their words weren’t as silent as they thought. Their whispers echoed through the lifeless hull.

“What’s with that captain anyway?” One of the voices asked.

“Didn’t I tell ye? He’s just like the o’l bunch o’ em.” The voice that replied, the second one, was more gruff and accented in nature.

“What, grass types?” The third spoke.

“Ye, ye! Bastards are always like that, fuckin’ twigs that can’t do’a day’s worth o’ work. Always runnin’ from trouble or growin’ in’a sun.” They were a part of the thieves no doubt. Their mannerism was something I hadn’t heard anywhere before our encounter. I got a little frustrated with them I’ll admit, not for their banter but for the fact that I couldn’t tell who’s who besides the one with the heavy accent.

“Yea,” the first one chuckled. “I remember back when I was a thief in the Square, there was this police chief that was as dumb as a rock. We gave him the old one-two too many times to count!”

“Oi, then ow’d you end up ‘ere then?”

“Let’s just say I got too big of a bounty when I, well…”

Another voice butted in from the stairway, stirring fear even in my heart. “What the hell are you doing?” he roared. I could find some semblance of someone I knew in his voice, but I was little hesitant to find out who. Fire seemed to spit from his tongue when he spoke, I didn’t want to get caught in the middle of it. “What do you have to do, what were you ordered?”

“T-to move the gunpowder back up-“

“Then do it! You’ve been standing around for twenty minutes, do your damn job before we get kicked off this ship!” He muttered in-between his sentences, swearing in a language that was beyond anything I had heard.

“Yes boss,” they muttered, all the way back to the other end of the ship. I faked a sleeping position as best as I could, keeping one eye just a bit open to observe them. The three of them were fire-types, still muttering cocky remarks as they walked by as slow as they could.

“Look at ‘em, still restin’. I bet I could snap ‘em in half, make a nice fire out o’em!”

They snickered and murmured all the way back to the northern tip of the ship, taking their sweet time as I expected of them. I sat back up, still intent on watching the bastards. Now they’d ticked me off, now I’d watch and see if one of them would trip or something.

“Well you’re finally up,” the commanding voice remarked. He had snuck up on me without even realizing it, and to my surprise it was the Charizard from before. When he stood up, his head went beyond the height of my upper bunk. I still had to look up to speak to him face to face. He was as sturdy as a rock though. He didn’t move, and his eyes stayed fixated on me. He was dead serious, to an extent no other Pokémon could compete with. “I’d apologize if anything they have said came off as rude, although you seem like you don’t care.”

“Not really no, but thanks anyway.” I made one final glance to the trio before asking, “Rowdy bunch, aren’t they?”

“You’re just fueling their fire…”

“How so?”

“What you just did, acting like you were asleep, only confirming their bias.”

“I’m not gonna take them face-to-face-“

“Bullshit, now even I’d believe what they say. You want to prove you are not what they think you are, than you act how you should. Cowering is just what they want to see, even if I don’t give a shit.”

His attention was being dragged somewhere else, so I tried to bargain a bit of context. “How long was I out?”

“Depends on when you fell asleep, I’d say twelve hours.”

“You kept tab of that?”

“News travels.”

“Right…”

“I came to tell you there’s a meeting on the deck soon. The rest of the ship has almost gone mad, I think your ‘Captain’ has something to say about that.” With that he walked away, leaving me to waste my own time before it got too late.

As I stretched my way back to the deck, the rest of the crew were already on their way up. Nearly a hundred Pokémon now stood at the deck, an entire company’s worth comprised of ourselves and the thieves. Their voices multiplied, revealing the true intent of our size. A hundred crewmembers, with a hundred different voices murmured and pondered for reasoning of the surprise meeting. For but a brief moment, I worried our size would become a negative.

I squeezed through the groups of Pokémon, looking for anyone I knew. Would we be useless on our own now? Were we just numbers on a ship? I understood how different we were from our enemies, but the Gallant and her crew, were we really that different now? I could hear the complaints and the conversations around me, how the newly morphed crew had too little space to sleep or how the supplies onboard didn’t support them all. Nobody here was foolish, we all knew the consequences of this endeavor, and we had already multiplied far beyond our limit. Perhaps that was the reasoning behind the Captain’s sudden meeting, but none of us could confirm our own suspicions.

“Sid!” Timburr called. “Welcome back, you sleep well?”

“I guess so,” I nervously replied. “Look about-“

“Don’t worry, what we said is done. As long as you don’t spread it I won’t.” The crowd began to squeeze against us. The little guy picked himself up against the railing, taking a seat for whatever came next. “Damnit, you’ve heard anything from the captain about what’s going on?”

“Nothing, I just woke up and came here.”

“Well if this whole thing is just-“ He was cut off by the Captain himself. As he walked aboard the quarterdeck, he was greeting with the roars and demands of a disapproving crew. Their yells and murmurs revealed a side of this conflict I hadn’t seen before.

“Timburr,” I turned. “Did anything happen while I was out?”

“I can’t really say for certain, I mean I took a nap but that was only for an hour or two. I got woken up for my duties and I haven’t heard anything about what’s been going on since, just more shouting and arguments really.” We looked at each other in a fit of uncertainty, as the Captain tried to gamble a silence amongst the crew.

“Quiet down! I ask that the crew will remain calm while we try to sort this situation out!” As he spoke, even more snarls and questions were hurled at him. “I understand you all wanted this meeting, so here I am, but we cannot discuss this if we’re acting like barbarians!”

“Wait a minute,” Timburr murmured to me. “The crew wanted this?”

The Captain finally found a balance between the two parties. “Now, one at a time explain your reasoning to me.”

The crowd burst once more into a flurry of voices before the louder ones overcast the others.

“There’s more than seventy of us now, there’s not enough room for the lot of us!”

“Yea, we don’t have enough food or supplies for all of us!”

“This is what we get for brining those bastards with us!”

“You’re the ones who offered this!”

The crew began to turn against each other instead. Fistfights almost broke out, as each Pokémon turned against their neighboring crewmate. The entire ship was overthrown with the violent voices, and the uncertain divide between the thieves and ourselves was finally revealed.

A shot rang out, then a second and third. Several muskets fired into the sky, and all eyes trained back to their source. It was Charizard, and he stood in the midst of a circle of thieves that surrounded him as he spoke.

“I ask that my crew remain calm, so we can sort this like honest sailors and not a bunch of fucking dogs! Whether we were promised shit or not, we are still guests on this boat!” By the end of his demand his voice was fuming, practically emergent with fire. But he calmed down, instead extending his gaze back to the quarterdeck. “Captain, I’ll speak for my leader and my crew, as they cannot seem to restrain themselves. But I ask that your crew will behave as well!”

The Captain gazed back at the beast of a Pokémon, almost in admiration apparently. “Fine by me, Borat!” By his call, the bear quickly walked to his side. “Our Quartermaster will speak for my side of the crew…” He shot Borat a quick glare, “Although I think the both of you have the same thing to say.”

“Indeed,” the Charizard replied. He took a moment to discuss the matter with the circle he was enthroned upon, taking note at each Pokémon’s complaints. “First of all Captain, my crew believes they are not properly supplied aboard your craft. But I do not…” One of his own members whispered to him softly. “Ah…Firstly then, we don’t believe there is enough space for us to sleep.”

“Right, I do recognize that. The third floor of the hold was intended for the size of our crew only, and I don’t think there’s much space left to renovate.”

“What about the second floor?”

Jonah shook his head, “I don’t want to sacrifice our firepower over that.” The crowd almost got riled up again before Charizard calmed them down once more. “What about the parlor then, next to my quarters?”

This time, our side of the crew erupted into anger. “What?” Timburr screamed back. “Not there, we use that for parties!”

“It is a necessary sacrifice!” Jonah retorted. “It is the most useless room on the ship! If you really need to celebrate every time we reach port, then I’ll remove the ban on celebrating in the hold.” He sighed at the crowd finally died down once again. “How many carpenters do we have now, two?” Both parties nodded, “Come to the front of the crowd then.”

They both squeezed through the ranks, finally making their way to the opening the Captain demanded of them.

“You two,” he continued. “You two will tear down the parlor and replace it with some more sleeping quarters. You’ll be working in close proximity to one another, so you might as well shake on it.” They did, seeming to be one of the only real links between our crew and theirs. “My crew will occupy the new area when it’s complete, and yours-“

 “Your crew captain? I’m afraid this is another one of my complains, my crew doesn’t believe we are being treated fairly.”

“How so?”

“We don’t believe you trust us enough. You said it yourself, your own crew will take the new quarters. This is obviously a ploy to keep you away from any harm, I can understand that. You should trust no one but your own crew, that’s obvious. But wouldn’t there be more trust between the two of us if it was split between us? Rather, half of my crew and half of yours, that way you can be assured we are not planning anything against you.”

“…Fine.” The Captain seemed flustered. He obviously didn’t intend for his command to spin in that direction, and the Charizard certainly held his merit. It was clear now, the Captain had his own agenda as did the Pokémon speaking to him. Both had the intent to defend their own flock while keeping the peace with the other.

“Now onto my second issue,” the fire-type continued. “There’s not enough food and drink for the both of us, we’re low on military supplies as well.”

“Well you can certainly understand, we just finished getting our ship back didn’t we? They took most of our supplies back to their ship, and now that’s sitting at the bottom of a harbor.”

“Yes, I can understand that,” Charizard replied. “But what I don’t understand is your insistence to continue this worthless fighting.”

“What do you imply with that?” the Captain roared back, anger building in his throat.

“What I mean is simple, just look around. We barely have any supplies, our food won’t last us more than a week, two if we ration-“

“This will be over by the end of a month.”

“Captain, do you honestly think we can settle your score in a month? Not even a Lapras Liner could achieve that!” He seemed to be taken aback by Jonah’s insistence. “Now this crew agreed that you would give us a safe spot on your ship, and its bullshit if you believe this is a safe decision. We don’t even have enough supplies for our cannons, let alone enough to last us destroying a single ship!”

“Then we’ll destroy a single ship.”

“What about morale then? When we realize we cannot hold out in a fight with so little ammo, when your own side of the crew can’t eat or drink properly because of rationing, will we still come out on top?”

“Yes, we will. That’s the reason why we assaulted that guild. With the power of those cymbals, we can take down any foe. They could be twice as large as us, maybe even four or five, but we’d still find a victory with those odds.”

“But no one has seen them in action, nobody except for the cabin boy—if he even is that. I understand that my own crew has been stuck in a hold for a good number of weeks, well over a month in fact, but we can’t just believe a claim like that without proof. Not even your own crew has seen the cymbals work, not even yourself from the timing everyone claims it to be. You were stuck in that hold alongside us, awaiting a swift death at port or a heavy prison sentence. How can you be so sure of them, when there’s only four witnesses to your expedition, when you didn’t even give them the order to set foot in that dungeon yourself, or that there’s only two that truly saw that power? If they are the only links, then-“

“Enough!” Jonah roared, his voice went stiff with rage. His lungs moved heavily, anyone could see that. It took him a good few breaths to finally come down from there. “Then you’ll just have to take my word for it.” He spoke softly, sweetly almost, but his voice showed magnitude in its gentleness.

The Quartermaster reached out to him, but he swatted the hand away gently, as to not cause any further stir from the crowd. “You were brought on this ship for a reason,” he continued. “I saw the strength your kind carried. Keep in mind though, you are pirates and we’re privateers, so don’t think your actions won’t go unchecked.”

He would have ended it right there, the entire meeting could have finished with that peace if not for one more decree. “One last thing,” he commanded. “One final issue for the entire crew, privateer or pirate, it doesn’t matter. Not a single one of you can touch the symbols, only those in command. If you do, you will be killed.”

The entire crowd erupted in either shocked breaths or murmurs among themselves. Even Timburr mouthed something off to me in a small state of confusion.

I could hear the Quartermaster whisper to the Captain. “Jonah, we never discussed-“

He shot the bear a warning glance, something short but to the point. He turned back to the crowd, “If there is a single fingerprint or claw mark that isn’t me or the Quartermaster. I will find out who it was, and you will be executed. No further questions, you can dismiss yourselves.”

“What about an accident?” someone shouted, then accompanied by accepting repeats from the crew around him. “What if there’s an accident and we need them, or someone accidently bumps into them or something?”

“You are not exempt from accidents,” Jonah dictated. “Even then you will be found guilty. That is all, dismiss yourselves.”

Some of the crowd erupted into shouts and argumentative replies, before surrendering to the fact that no one bared them audience. Everyone went back to their posts out of either fear or confusion, keeping with them an aura of suspicion for the rest of the day.

The Captain reemerged, casting one final remark before hurrying back to his quarters. “Will the cabin boy please report to my chambers immediately?”

“Shit,” Timburr murmured. “That’s your cue, what does he want?”

“I don’t know, but it can’t be helped. I’ll meet you in a little bit okay?”

“Hopefully…” With that, the short Timburr backed into the crowd, disseminating into the ranks that still surrounded the deck.

I walked cautiously into the hallway that separated the Captain’s Quarters from the rest of the ship. A newly painted sign had been nailed next to his door rather hurriedly. It swayed along with the rhythm of the ship, back and forth. It read in large red letters, ‘The cabin boy is not allowed in this room.’

As soon as I touched that doorknob, I knew whatever conversation was held on the other side wouldn’t exist when I opened that door. The Captain and his Quartermaster had to be on the other side. Whatever they withheld, whatever anxieties or worries, they would pass to me now. The door would remain closed for now, but it would slither open just enough to hear their conversation. My hands trembled as I moved just enough to peek through.

There he sat, at the desk that marked his territory. The entirety of it’s contents had been tossed to the floor, and it now accompanied a collection of maps and notes. They all surrounded this one Pokémon, who sat with his claws grasping at his forehead. His calmness was completely eradicated, and his hands struggled not to shake among company.

“Alright,” he trembled, moving his compass over the map. “If we move southward-“

“Southward we hit the Zero Isle or the uncharted waters, too close to there and our ship will disappear.” The voice was Borat’s no doubt.

“And the north?”

“We’ll just get caught by them, Jonah.”

“Right…” He set the device down, accepting his fate. “Then there really is no choice, we go west and escape to the south. H-he’s forcing our hand you know, he’s making us finish this at the isle.”

I took ahold of my courage and crossed the threshold. As soon as my presence was known, their eyes shot right back to me and their mouths shut tight.

And yet Jonah’s mouth trembled, and his breath moved audibly. There was something on his tongue, but he just couldn’t find the words. His gaze turned insistently over to Borat, his eyes bloodshot from a lack of sleep. The bear looked back, tired as well. It was almost too surreal for my own eyes. I was used to their constant bickering, their throw-and-catch style of communication; yet here they were, silent and peaceful as they had been known to be so long ago.

“God,” Jonah murmured aloud. “That damned crowd, they wouldn’t listen to reason! I-“

“No offense Jonah,” Borat gently interrupted. “But I don’t think most would agree what you said was reasonable.”

“Choice words from someone in your position Borat.” His words became nuanced, a hidden yet passive aggression strewn between the syllables.

The bear sighed, “I just…I don’t want to start anything Jonah, not now. Not after what we’ve been through.”

“Right…” Hopefully Jonah had let go of his aggravation towards the second in command, although most would doubt it I could still sense a bond between the two. Whether it was in their competition to rule or their strong history, I would never know. “Hopefully, if everything goes as I want it to, confronting Hypno should lend us a good few weeks’ worth of supplies.” His hand traced over the map he had outlaid. “From there, we cut through the south, wrap around the continent and resupply at Sand.”

“It’s safe to go to Sand?” I asked.

“Oh yes, they’re a wasteland practically. They wouldn’t care who we were as long as we bought something.”

“But the gold we had, Hypno still has it right?”

His passiveness towards me turned to a hopeless sigh, and his expression foretold that he hadn’t thought this through. “He’s a smart one, by now he’s probably pawned it off and delivered it back to the mainland. We’ll make by with what we got, at the moment there’s more important things to worry about.”

He stood up, and walked to the other end of the room. Shifting his claws through the storage compartments he had littered about, he took out a small object wrapped in cloth. My heart leapt, as I thought they were the cymbals, but when he moved closer I could tell it was not the same shape nor size.

“That’s why you brought the kid in here, right?” Borat could question, but his equal would give him no ear.

“The crew has been divided,” Jonah continued, looking me straight in the eye. “Sadly the efforts of such a fine leader as Borat cannot work anymore. We may hold favor with our part of the crew, but now we must appeal to the other half.”

His claws wrapped around the cloth, slowly uncovering the object as he spoke. “You’ve probably known already that the Crouse was not always a privateering ship. This is correct, and back those times there would always be a problem such as this. A crew is in many ways like politics, they can shift with the times, and they will eventually divide themselves. When that happens on a ship though, there was most often a middle man appointed, one who could settle the score between the two ‘parties.’” The final piece of linen was removed, revealing what the Captain had been preserving all these years. It was a sailing hat, and unbeknownst to me it held great authority. “You’ve proven yourself to me as a cabin boy, and for nearly five years your loyalty has never shifted. That is why I’m shifting you through the ranks so quickly, and appointing you as the First-“

“First Mate?” Borat interjected. “Jonah, what the hell is this? You can’t just appoint-“

“It’s my fucking choice!” Jonah roared. His voice rang with all the anger it could muster, and I could’ve sworn the entire ship could hear it. He wheezed for a moment, taking in deep long breaths that calmed him once more. Whatever trust had shown itself in this room had completely disappeared, and for the two of them this was just natural. “Now, if you have any complaints about my command, you can leave.”

This time, the bear would shoot him a glare. The Pokémon who was so used to playing peace had finally cracked. He made no more comments, no more interjections or remarks, he simply walked off to the deck. He had been the crew’s peacekeeper, and the moment I received this role it was taken from him.

Jonah didn’t have much left to say, in fact he was finished right there. He sat back down in his chair, leaving the hat where it was.

“Picking it up will be your agreement,” he finally said. “If you want to decline the promotion then you can leave right now.”

I trembled for a moment, before picking up the hat and resting it on my chest.

“Your goal is to keep the crew from killing each other, although I suppose that’s not very hard at all. You’ll take half of the Quartermaster’s role, management and all that. I hope you have a bit of knowhow with that.”

“Y-yes sir,” I stuttered back in reply.

“You are now third in command, below the Quartermaster and then me. Although, if anything happens to him…you will take his place. That’s all, dismissed.”

He expected no more questions, and I gave him that honor. As I closed the door behind myself, I came to a conclusion. It didn’t take much to infer that the role came from the ship’s younger days, the hat itself was now an artifact of that time. But I decided not to wear it. It would sit in my bunk respectfully, but it would never be worn. Somewhere inside, hidden behind it’s dark-blue color, it had been stained with old blood.

 

\--

 

The world seemed to revolve around our tiny ship for the next three days. Three days of boredom and toil is what they were. They stretched out long past infinity, their grasp on the vessel was like no other. Anxieties plagued the ship, the same kind as when we reached a port. It was that long grueling process of just waiting, while anything could happen. Only this time, we were expecting the worst to come, there would be no easy way out of the upcoming events.

Whatever qualms I had with that ship, whatever misconceptions I carried faded with the load dropped on my shoulders. A twenty year old position was put in my hands, and I didn’t have a single minute’s worth of experience with it. The Captain had such high expectations of me didn’t he? So why then, would he put this on me when I didn’t even have a basic understanding of the job? What it fell down to was a stack of paperwork that became my responsibility. It was passed down from the Captain, to the Quartermaster, to me.

“It’s the payment ledger,” Borat explained. “Plus a few other things I want you to take care of for me.”

He pointed out the writing to me, several lines of business mumbo I didn’t care enough to remember. “Here we’re basically telling the guy that we’ll pay him, and down here is his signature.”

“Alright, but what do you need me to do with this exactly?”

“Just reorganize the mess, it’s been jumbled up for the past few weeks, I think you know why. Plus, I need this in writing again for the new crewmembers, just copy it and hand it to them.”

“Right, what about the rest of it?”

“It’s just junk, see what we need and trash the rest.”

“Anything else I should focus on after that?”

He gave me the most apathetic look, “Just do your work.”

Unlike the Quartermaster, who still had his room and the entire ship perhaps, I was still trapped within that little bunk. So there they sat, a stack of papers on a cheap straw bed. I began to sigh as I skimmed through them, the thin sheets of papyrus wrapping through my claws. A few more days would pass, with nothing to show for them except a few small fights between the crews I had to settle. At the end of each day more loose paperwork would find its way on my bunk. Not much and hardly important, but enough to warrant my time. Was that my role on this ship, just a paper lackey?

“Fun times,” the Charizard spoke. Between the shuffling he had decided to sneak up on me, a bad habit of his I suppose. For him, it was an opportune time. The crew had been preoccupied with a storm brewing in the waters, the bottom of the hold was absolutely silent for all we could tell. Between the quick warm breaths protruding from his nostrils you could hear the faint voices crying out from above. The sea encaptivated all up there, hard work was payed off in the rains above. Damn was I frustrated! I almost prayed for a disaster, something to get me out of this lowlife job. 

“I should be up there,” I replied hastily. “Doing something of use, instead, I’m stuck with this crap!”

“Indeed you are, this is the work of your captain no?” He shrugged, taking the time to stretch his muscles until they popped. For someone so casual, he certainly was suspicious. “I asked around the ship, talked with the crew about your leader. None of them could give me a straight answer, and the other dumbasses didn’t tell me anything of use at all. So tell me ‘first mate,’ who’s the captain to you?”

Now the fire-type had peaked my interests. The papers fell back to the bedding, as I twisted myself towards him. With a nervous suspicion I asked him, “What’s it to you?”

“This is a strange ship,” he began, placing a clawed hand on a wooden pillar. “She doesn’t abide by the same laws mine did.”

“Your own captain said it himself. That elder didn’t know that much about privateers, so I’d guess-“

“Bullshit,” he shot back. His gaze turned back to mine, revealing an anger that seemed normal for his kind. “The others don’t know shit, and your crew can act as dumb as they want, but I know for a fact that this is no pirate ship.”

“Privateer? Don’t fuck with me, I’ve heard that this whole trip.” As much as his interruptions were an annoyance, it revealed his hidden nature. His character, his lingo, he was educated far beyond anyone else on this ship and he took great care to hide it. He hardly moved a muscle on his face, but when he did he did so with epiphany. He carried an accent of northern decent, something from Mist or Air. Yet his accent, the way he rolled his tongue and clicked through certain words, it was something I’d never heard before. His wings were folded up at all times, but even when hidden you could make out a hole as big as a cannonball. I realized he didn’t intend to continue, and as much as I analyzed him he’d do the same to me. “Your crew and mine obviously don’t get along, they probably never will. But maybe it’s best to try and ease tensions a little, by having a little trust between the two of us. So I’ll ask again, what do you know of your captain?”

He aggravated me. He was brutishly honest and cut straight to the point, traits I had somehow learned to mistrust. But the more I thought about it, the more he made me confused. He was correct, right from the start too. Nearly no one knew who the Captain really was. He was an enigma, practically the definition of hidden. There was only a single Pokémon who knew who he really was, the Quartermaster. So like his own words, I spoke an honest truth. “I really don’t know.”

“Bullshit,” he repeated. 

“It’s the truth!” I strained back. I had grown tired of the dragon’s insistence. Leaping out of bed, I met him face to face. “I don’t know anything, I was just a cabin boy!”

“That position is too low for the likes of you. Tell me, what does one do exactly? Scrub the deck, clean the latrine, is that what they do? Instead, I hear you go everywhere with that officer. You’re given the privilege of speaking with him in private, keeping secrets as if no one else knew you were. Sent into a fucking dungeon with no prior experience, even your second-in-command is in on it!”

“What’s your point?”

“My point, is that I want clarity. You were no cabin boy, whoever they put in your place will actually be one. I saw it with my own eyes, they sent you to get your own captain!”

“Because of my species, we can sneak quickly and carefully!”

“Isn’t it also a fact that your ‘captain’ is also a part of your species? Blood runs far, and maybe he’s decided his blood is already in you.” He turned himself up straight, looking around for any eavesdroppers, and sighing. “Now look what we’ve done, a perfectly good talk turned sour.”

It appeared that he got himself heated in the conversation, if that’s what he wanted to call it. He steadied himself back to a calm demeanor. “I just want a solid truth, I’m hesitant to put my trust in your crew as quickly as you did mine. I want my Pokémon to remain safe.”

“Yea well, join the club. That’s everyone’s goal.”

“Perhaps, but maybe not ‘everyone.’ You know who I refer to.”

“The Captain?”                                                                                             

“He lost nine of his own in that stupid fight in the guild. Not any of my own, all nine his. Now he hasn’t even addressed it, nor does he seem to care.”

“He does, just…”

“So you do know about him?”

“Well, yes and no. Now we’re just wrapping back to the start!”

“That’s where I wanted to be in the first place Sid.” He fidgeted a little, anxious to get going. “I need something from up there, the cargo, you want to walk?”

“Sure,” I replied. I might as well get a stretch out of that, I would’ve taken any excuse to start moving around again. Up the stairs I followed, his tail swaying back and forth like a guiding beacon.

“That captain of yours is up to something,” he continued at the top of the stairs.

“And how would you know?”

“Don’t get me wrong, this ‘revenge’ plot of his is justifiable in his eyes, albeit stupid. But that divide between the bear and him, I don’t see it helping one bit.”

“They’ve been like that ever since I’ve been here. It’s just normal for the rest of us.” 

“Maybe,” he said, placing a hand on the cargo he desired. “They remind me of Pokémon I knew a long time ago, old friends who’ve lost their ties…”

“How so?”

He drifted away for a bit, “Oh, I was just saying, that’s what it seemed like to me. It’s nothing…”

He looked for any way out of that subject, and it came to him when a few of his own came around for supplies.

“The bastards upstairs need some rope down here boss.”

The Charizard sighed, “Do I look like some sort of jockey? Go find it on your own.”

By the time the dragon had finished his sentence, the other had gotten himself distracted. “Hey, why are you talkin’ with the likes of him? Fucking tinder here is gonna-“

“Do your damn job!” Charizard roared. “You’re working, you can banter later!”

The other fire-type grumbled, muttering a “Yes boss,” as he moseyed his way back wherever he came from.

“Damnit, these idiots never change, not after the five years I’ve worked with them! The replacements are even-“

“Why are there so many fire-types with you?” It was my turn to interject.

“What do you mean?”

“Our ship barely has any of your type,” I continued. “I’ve always assumed it’s a dangerous place for you, being out at sea I mean. So why are there so many of you around?”

Images flashed through the dragon’s frame as he answered, he seemed to become agitated as he thought back to his group’s purpose. “We serve our purpose, I think you’ll see why someday…” He winced subtly, taking the time to refresh himself. “I think a lot of us don’t fear the water, or fear death. Perhaps that’s one of our reasons…”

His thoughts seemed to grow large, and he strained to stay on focus. In one form or another he had seen too much, and it almost begged me to carry him away. So I did, asking him his age in a shifting conversation.

“Twenty-two,” he replied. “I left home at fifteen, found my way onboard our old ship a while later. I didn’t know a thing about boats, but somehow I worked my way to second place, then to here.” He paused to look around, “On a strangers ship with my title stripped away…”

“Well, at least you’re safe I guess. We’ve got good supplies, you’ll be well fed. Although, you guys looked like you were doing fine before this. Your captain seems like he did a good job.”

“He couldn’t give a damn if he tried,” the dragon replied, rather bitter and stern too. “That was my doing, our crew deserved at least that for what we did…or do rather. If it weren’t for the fact that the bastard is old now, I would’ve been dead a long time ago.” He sighed, “But that’s not really a problem anyways, I could take on any of them hand to hand and I’d survive.”

“You on the other hand,” he pointed to me. “You have a much bigger problem. At least my problems are just speculation. There’s a divide between your captain and your quartermaster, and half of you are too stupid to realize it or just don’t care. You got a ship that’s not designed for combat, and even worse, now your introducing ranks that don’t even exist on this ship!”

He had finished collecting his supplies, a sack’s worth of straw hung around his back. All the while I protested on the way back to the lower hold. “What do you mean it doesn’t exist?”

“There’s no difference between your average pirate and a privateer. The later just clings to an idea they lost long ago, law.” He set the heavy load down right by my row of bunks. “That hat,” he continued, pointing to the one on my bed. “It’s a relic of what this ship used to be. A first-mate doesn’t exist on one of these boats, they never will and never should. All the duties that go with him are the quartermasters business here.”

“Then why’ve I been made one? What’s the point of this stupid rank if I’m not supposed to have it in the first place?”

He was stirring his sack of straw, molding it into a bed as best as he could. But when I asked, his head shot up. His face was contorted with a confused smile as he spoke, “You really don’t know what’s going on do you?”

I don’t think he expected an answer, and yet a quick little answer escaped my breath. “N-no…” I couldn’t bare that charade, the endless days ahead of me full of nothingness. Long ago I would’ve been fine with it, yes, but I had been molded into a Pokémon of action. To idly sit by was death to me, it would rip me apart piece by piece.

“I find it funny,” he interjected, almost reading my thoughts piece by piece. “How you did nothing but scrub shit and grime, and now that you can sit back you just want to jump right back in.”

“I-I’ll die if I don’t do anything,” I replied as he scoffed. “I would! You know how it is on one of these. I haven’t been here long, but I know for a fact that hard work is the only way to survive on this ship! If what you say is true, if I’m forced to believe it, then I’m as good as dead if I can’t help in some way.”

“And sorting that crap isn’t helping in your eyes?”

“It shouldn’t be the entire point of my job! It’s something you’d do at the end of the day, or when you’re on break or something. When people are battling and dying up there, I shouldn’t be the one who stays behind—whether I’m the cabin boy or first mate!”

He took a moment to contemplate, continuing his work on the bed. “If we were anywhere else, I’d have called you insane.” He smirked, “But since we’re on this kind of ship, I’d say that’s a pretty honorable answer.”

“H-how long have you been sailing?”

“Five years, you?”

“About the same…” He honestly surprised me, “You haven’t been doing it any longer than me, how did you get so high up?”

“I fought, I stood up when no one else wanted to.” He began to shift, and when he was done he began to fall asleep in his straw bed. His tail curled up alongside him, its flame as low as he could muster it to be. As far as I knew it took great strength to do so, both physically and mentally.

“But,” he continued. “As much as I have to fight, I’d rather not. You know now that I am much more of a thinker than a fighter, its simply who I was raised to be.” He sighed, “But my body doesn’t care for that, so if I am born to fight, I have to.”

“Why would you reveal that side of you?”

“I wasn’t kidding, or sweet talking when I said this ship needs trust now more than ever. As long as I’ve been out here, I’ve only seen it start with the leadership. And if your highest of high aren’t willing to, then it’s up to us in second or third place. Maybe if you and I can trust one another, then our crew will as well.”

“Maybe,” I replied. “Maybe…” Those were the last words he heard before he slept. As nice as it felt, I wouldn’t find that myself. If my mind was wandering than so would I. I spent the rest of that evening doing what I was told to do, sorting through the papers and the likes. Between the pages I’d think to myself, reflect on all as it were. Among the miscellaneous junk was a familiar note. Perhaps the Captain or the quartermaster had let it slip by to me, but between two pieces of junk sat the mysterious island’s coordinates. And although the Hypno had been proven to be alive, his blood still drenched the papyrus.

Yet I couldn’t linger on that. As much as it drew my attention, the ship and her crewmates worried me. Whether what Charizard had said was true, whether it was a fake role or not, there was a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. The thing that really scared me awake was that anything could happen, and I didn’t know a single thing I could do. That would all crash down on me like a four-ton weight if I wasn’t careful!

The Charizard slept peacefully though. Perhaps he had seen it already, perhaps he had seen too much of it. In some form or another he remained calm, in confidence or apathy. So he would wake with a silent yawn and a stretch of his joints, as if the night had never taken place.

“Damn,” he muttered, but even they were peaceful. “I haven’t enjoyed a meal in forever, when do you suppose this captain of yours is going to collect that ‘bounty?’”

“Within the month he said.”

“Well I hope they have something more than decent to eat, a gummi or two perhaps.” There was something calming in his routine. The sun hadn’t grazed us yet, her rays hadn’t cast through the portholes. Yet he awoke without any quarrel. Whatever strife he carried throughout the day, his never-ending apathy or reason wasn’t there yet. He was at an absolute peace, he didn’t swear or aggravate.

“You’re pretty calm right now.”

“I’m only half dead,” he replied joyously. “Give me some time to get moving, and I’ll probably kill you.”

I scoffed at his comment, taking in the morning for myself. Even if I hadn’t slept, there was still a sort of peace to it. Perhaps I had just expressed too much last night, perhaps we both did. Yet as the sun finally rose and the sky turned a bright blue, the thought still pierced my mind. So finally accepting what was on my shoulders, I asked as best as I could: “So, what does a first mate do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like his job, what he’s required of, that sort of thing.”

He looked over to me, a little annoyed no doubt. In a quiet way though, he thought it over. “Well if my mind is working right, I’d need to walk a little bit to get it going.” So he strolled up to the cargo, with myself tailing alongside him. The color returned to him, and he seemed to finally be awake—or at least his attitude showed it.

“First mate…” Scratching his chin, he put the muscle in his head to work. “First mate keeps an eye on the cargo…”

So for the next few days, in the time I could spend there, I checked the cargo. I organized what was left of it, noted how much we needed and how much was left.

“He watches the deck, makes sure everyone is in shape, cycles out the shifts…”

So every day from then on I watched the deck, taking quick notes of the crew that shifted around. As they pulled on the sails and treaded the wooden platform I would watch them. Their bodies would show whether they were tired or rested, whether they were in shape to work or not. I’d shift those who were tired and work those who were willing.

“He is responsible for the crew, the ship, and his fellow officers…”

So I would keep my eyes open. I scanned each corridor, each nook and cranny of the delicate ship. I took note of damages, the cracks and holes that accumulated. They were quickly reported to the ship’s carpenters. I settled the fights between the opposing sides, the thieves and the originals. I let them fight and when they did they fought fairly when compromise didn’t work. The crew quickly felt more efficient, more invigorated and work-ready, and I the more exhausted. But I was finally satisfied, I did what I was supposed to do. It felt smooth, every last minute of those remaining two weeks. Charizard had taught me everything I needed to know. But whatever he knew of this role was wrong, at least in the eyes of my leaders.

He strode into the hold with fury in his breath, the bear’s feet stomping with every step. He found his way straight to me, a surprisingly quiet moment that was about to be ruined.

“You…” he strained. “Goddamnit, my work’s been cut in half!”

“I’m just doing what a first-mate-“

“I don’t know who’s been telling you this crap, the captain maybe, but it better stop now. Let me remind you, Sid. My orders come from the captain, then straight to you, is that clear?”

He had changed, there was no more pity in him anymore, no more sympathy or comradery. With the anger of a thousand storms he stared me down, teeth bared and all. A quick dart of the eyes over his shoulder revealed Charizard, still pretending to sleep that certain morning away. I could tell it was a false state, his ear shooting up to take in the heated conversation. It didn’t matter anymore, the old Beartic had lost his patience permanently. So with a heavy heart, I replied, “Y-yes sir.”

“Then you wait,” he strained one last time. “Wait for a job from me, wait for the goddamn meeting we’re gonna have in an hour.” He strode off, no rest to his anger. This was surreal, over the past few weeks nearly everyone had changed. Timburr made his move to be more sympathetic, and Doc had just grown tired of all the new cases around the hold. They never lost themselves though, as much as my circle of comrades had evolved they had remained the same. But the quartermaster-

“You wanted proof,” the fire-type whispered. “There’s your proof. They’re up to something, the lot of them.”

I felt so enraged then, the dragons reply had ticked me off just as much as I had ticked off Borat. “Everyone is,” I retorted, not intent on keeping quiet myself. “Everyone has their agenda, me, the doctor, your captain, even you! What difference does it make?”

“Whether their intent helps more than themselves or not,” he replied. “You feel it don’t you?” he whispered before stirring back to some real sleep. “That betrayal from nowhere, no one deserted you or abandoned you. Yet you’ve lost something, what you were, what they were…”

“I’d think about getting stronger if I were you,” he continued. “Evolve into your latter form, a Sceptyle like your captain.”

“Why do you say that?”

“It’s a necessary, if you wish to remain third. You’re only half the words you say until then. You’ve seen it already, your leaders talk you down and belittle you when you’ve only tried to improve their vessel. This is not a pirate ship, not a privateer nor something eviler. On any one of those ships management like this would be killed, hanged, or worse marooned. No one here is a real pirate, not anyone but my own. But those leaders are, in another way. They’ll lie, they will cheat and steal from you specifically. They’ll threaten you, beat you, perhaps attempt to kill you. But you cannot be weak, you cannot have anything more than brute strength. Because the moment you show an inkling of weakness, they’ll slip the floor out from under you. You either stand tall, or you die. That is the price for honesty, from me to you.”

He didn’t move anymore, didn’t stir or wake. Even when the meeting rose everyone to their feet he stayed asleep. Maybe I understood what it was to him, or perhaps I didn’t. He probably thought this was a great big charade, and even our meeting would just be a waste of time. Perhaps he already knew the answers, what Captain Jonah would declare or demand. For now though, the brute would sleep. And I don’t think anyone would dare to stir him awake.

I ran into my replacement on the way up, the new cabin boy it seemed. He was a fire-type, a young Pignite that didn’t speak but worked hard. He would just mop and clean, but something was certainly different. There wouldn’t be anymore trust, no more meetings with such an unimportant character. I realized the Captain hadn’t called on me because of my rank, but because of what I was to him.

 

-

 

Not even an hour, not even ten minutes had passed, and most of the crew was already protesting on the deck. Merely being aboard the craft revealed a frustration that had boiled over for the past few weeks. The stress and demand of those last few containers of food and supplies had shot through the crew’s nerves like a knife. Not only that, but the air began to chill. A cold disposition began to settle on our vessel’s wood. The stormy seas that had haunted us subsided, the monsoon that haunted the Continent still visible in the distance. We had steered ourselves right against a mysterious land I had never seen before, a never-ending stretch of bluff--layered with ice and snow that froze the rock in place.

My lungs grew hoarse, I shivered as I awaited whatever came next. No one I knew was in sight, not Doc nor Timburr, not even the dragon from before. Was he really going to sleep through this, when the crew was on the verge of mutiny?

There he emerged, the Captain in whatever glory was left to him. As I froze over, I awaited his command. Whatever this crew needed, whatever would dispel this curse I would do.

“Well?” a voice shot through the crowd. Although the speaker was unknown to me, he represented the thieves and most of our own. “We’ve been out here for weeks, almost a month, where’s the bounty?”

The crowd erupted in violent cheers, demanding the same answer as the speaker.

“You said we didn’t need to port, we had enough to last us a month! And now you’re bringing us to port, not only that but in a frozen wasteland too! Well your month is up ‘commander,’ where’s our food, our fresh water and supplies?”

The quartermaster was nowhere, talking no sides in this conflict. If anyone could stop this, it was him or the Charizard. Yet both didn’t care, neither party willing to get blood on their hands.

“It is clear now, that the ship we are perusing is nowhere near as slow as we thought it to-“

“So you are admitting you were wrong?”

“No, what I’m admitting is that I expected them to come after us. I was hoping our confrontation could be a little more agreeable. It’s clear they’re trying to wait us out, so we have no choice but to port for supplies.”

“Exactly my point, you stepping back from what you promised!”

“We have the whole world on our backs!” Jonah shouted. “And you expect me to keep a lousy promise, a fucking ploy to get you to shut up? We’ve suffered through worse than this, and now you want some supplies? Just because we’re reaching our limit you want to quit? I thought we were sailors, not a bunch of sniveling cowards!”

“We can’t keep a limit if we’re starving you son of a bitch! We have two days’ worth of supplies, what then? Do we eat each other?”

As Jonah argued back, the crew just grew louder and louder. The pace just quickened even further, the night seemed to be drowned in anguish, and the steps behind me just escalated my feelings.

“Well,” Charizard casually spoke. “What do we have here?”

“W-What are you doing up?” I asked.

“Couldn’t sleep over the noise…” It was an obvious lie on his part. “What have they been talking about?”

“The Captain has gone back on his promise, we have no supplies and the Coalburner ship is nowhere in sight.”

He chuckled, “So, nothing out of the usual.”

“Son of a bitch, we’re on the verge of killing each other here!”

He continued his grin, “Good, maybe then we’ll see some change.”

I couldn’t stand the beast, I couldn’t stand of them! Not the thieves, nor the crew, not even my own Captain gave me peace. No one was who they said they were, no one was a sailor or a soldier. They were all liars, when push came to shove they revealed their true colors. I just wanted someone I knew, someone that wouldn’t compromise on a ship like this.

“You…You wanted this didn’t you?” I questioned.

“What?”

“You wanted us to start fighting didn’t you?” I demanded more than the Charizard could give me, I demanded an unfaltering truth.

“Don’t be-“

“Now look!” Jonah shouted. “There’s a small village just around the bend, I’ve been here before you bastards! They have enough supplies for us all, just get back to your stations and keep calm!”

He would never get the peace he begged so much for, nor would I get the time to demand what I feared from Charizard. The bluffs were nearing their end, and the frozen air predicted where we’d sail. We’d sweep right by that jagged edge, and see the village Jonah had promised us. Within her borders sat a large ship. It carried four sails, and it sat larger than any other vessel on the seas. She was familiar, with her blue-tinted hull and six rows of cannons. She sat right outside the village harbor, with a crowd of Pokémon begging it to stop. She stayed sideways, all six rows pointed right at us.


End file.
